Shounen Kakumei Duo
by Pilot-Duo
Summary: "Let's go on living our lives heroically, with style, and even if the two of us should be separated, take my Revolution!" (Yaoi, angst, incomplete, GW in Utena universe; different pairings, mostly 2x4)
1. The Black Rose Seed

((I do not own Gundam Wing, blah blah blah))  
  
"The Black Rose Seed"  
  
~*~  
  
"So where are we going today, sexy?"  
  
Duo grunted and turned his face away. Trowa and Quatre began to walk away from the group of Gundam pilots, hand in hand. The mere site of the two together disgusted him.  
  
"Don't tell me you're gonna start bitchin' again, Maxwell," said Wufei, grumpily. Duo gave Wufei a sharp glare, and then took a big bite of his cheeseburger. Heero sat across from him at the small table outside at a diner, a look of disagreement upon his face. He grumbled and shook his head.  
  
"Duo, drop it. We know what you're going to start complaining about. It's getting old," said Heero coldly, without lifting his head up from his drink. Duo chewed on his cheeseburger, then swallowed. His stomach began to feel sick suddenly with the entrance of food, so he wrapped up the rest of his cheeseburger and casually tossed it to the nearest trash can, making it in. He took a deep breath and stretched.  
  
"Doesn't bug me. Those two could go and have kids 'far as I care," he replied. Wufei narrowed his eyes at the braided pilot.  
  
"Bull."  
  
Duo shrugged his shoulder, then backed up his chair and stood up slowly. He rested his hands on the back of the chair and held onto it tightly, pausing for a brief moment. There was a really deep sinking feeling in his stomach, and pressure applied to his chest. He bit his lip slightly and closed his eyes, gripping onto the chair tighter, the pain seeming to grow with every breath he took. God it hurt.  
  
"Look, why don'cha just go home, cry like a woman, then come back when you're feeling all better, 'kay?" suggested Wufei, not making the situation any better. Duo took a deep breath, then opened his eyes and released the chair. His palms were clammy. Heero looked up at him finally, piercing into his gaze with his ice-cold, cobalt eyes.  
  
"I hope you're not going to stay in this state during our next mission," he said. Duo shook his head, folding his arms over his aching chest.  
  
"Fine. I'll leave. Wouldn't wanna spoil yer day," he said as he turned and began to walk out. He unfolded his arms and pushed open the gate casually, before letting it slam shut behind him. He didn't notice his hands had turned into fists and he was grinding his teeth- not in anger, but because of seeing Quatre and Trowa... together... The image of them kept flashing over and over again in his mind, torturing him all the more; tearing his heart to pieces.  
  
"Duo."  
  
Duo turned around and came face-to-face with Heero. He didn't even hear the gate open or shut. Heero still had that ice-cold stare in his eyes, almost sending a chill down Duo's spine, but he was too hurt to care.  
  
"What? I don't need any of your shit right now, Heero. Y'know how I feel alrea-"  
  
Heero grabbed Duo by his upper arm and squeezed it tightly. He yanked him towards him, until their faces were only inches apart.  
  
"I know. It's old. And annoying," he said, coldly. Duo's eyes widened.  
  
"Heero, let me go."  
  
Heero applied more pressure onto Duo's arm, swung him into the side of the diner building, and then placed his mouth over his forcefully. Duo grunted lightly, and then struggled against Heero's grip, but it was in vain. Heero had a tight grip on his arm and practically had him pinned against the side of the building.  
  
After what felt like an entire minute, Heero finally pulled back from Duo's face. He still had his tight grip on his arm. It was beginning to hurt Duo. Duo looked into Heero's fierce stare with widened eyes.  
  
"Hee-"  
  
"Duo, shut up," Heero placed his fingertips over Duo's mouth, applying pressure to them also, "Just shut up."  
  
Duo felt Heero free his arm, and then took a step back. He felt his face growing a bright pink. There was a small, burning like feeling in his chest that made him feel like punching Heero across the face, but he knew better then that. Heero would just punch him right back, and harder, at that.  
  
"Go home and take some rest. Get your mind off of things. I don't want you screwing up our next mission with all this shit in that small brain of yours," Heero said, coldly. Duo challenged his fierce gaze for a moment, before quickly turning away and casting his gaze to the ground. His hands formed into fists again. That's all Heero cared about- the mission. He didn't care about Duo's feelings. He just wanted to present his 'team' in a well organized manner and complete whatever missions had come to face them. Duo hated that about him.  
  
Without another word to the heartless pilot, Duo began to walk away from him, quickly. His hands were still in fists, his teeth clenched together again, and his heart in pain. 'I'll just go home and bleed for a few hours,' he thought to himself. Go home, go into his room, and lay down in his bed.  
  
And think about Quatre.  
  
The mere thought of that sent a shock of pain up his chest again. Every time he thought about Quatre, he thought about -him-; the silent Gundam pilot whose hair was an annoyance to Duo, only showing half of his face. Trowa, the one who stood in the shadows, it seemed, and only came out for Quatre...wrapping his arms around the blonde pilot, holding him closer...placing his lips over his...  
  
Duo stopped in a park that he was walking through to get home and sat down on a bench. He leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees, burying his face into his hands. With his fingertips, he gripped onto his bangs, tightening his hands into fists with his hair in them. He bit his lip as he resisted the urge to cry out in pain. His entire body was so tense.  
  
Suddenly, he felt something brush by his cheek. He instantly lifted his head and looked about the park. There was nobody, or nothing. He sat up and looked behind him. Still, nothing. Thinking it was just a stray strand of hair, Duo leaned back onto his knees and rested his chin upon the palms of his hands. He started down at the ground, blankly. At least it distracted his mind for a momen-  
  
It brushed by his cheek again. As if by reaction, Duo shot upwards and lifted his head up. In front of him, landing quietly on his nose, was a tiny, black rose petal. Focusing his eyes a bit, he saw that it wasn't black, but instead, a really, really deep crimson rose petal. He slowly lifted a hand to remove the rose petal, before the slightest gust of wind blew the petal away. Turning towards it, Duo quickly lifted himself from the bench and glanced around the park again, not having recall seeing any dark red colored roses on any rose bushes. Just as he looked upwards, he saw two more rose petals fly above him...then another two...then four...then eight...  
  
Soon, Duo noticed that there gradually began a storm of rose petals. He looked behind himself, but there was soon so many, that he couldn't see where they were coming from. This was odd. Was the city under attack? With that thought, Duo began to make a quick rush to the base hidden underground not too far from his house.  
  
As he ran against the roses petals, he noticed that it seemed like they were clearing a path for him, as if allowing him to reach the base. There was a heavy scent of roses that blocked out any other smell in the world. Once again, highly unusual.  
  
Suddenly, the rose petals cleared, or at least slowed down. There were still tons of them, so many that the sky turned into a light magenta color. Duo looked about a high bridge that he was standing on. Traffic seemed to stop, as cars were parked in place on the roadway. People stopped in their tracks, freezing as if time had stopped. Even birds in the sky stopped in mid-air. 'What the hell...?'  
  
Peering over the bridge into the water, even the water turned into a dark magenta color. It was flooded with dark red rose petals, except for that little area where Duo saw his reflection. It looked like a crystal clear mirror. He waves his right hand to test his reflection, and then saw that his reflection, instead of waving its left hand, also waved its right hand. This caused him to take a step back, astonished at the odd reflection. If this was an enemy attack, then why was his reflection acting this way?  
  
Gradually, the water in the river began to rise. Duo instantly noticed this, as it was rising pretty quickly, but strangely calmly. Up close, it now began to look more like red wine rather then water. Perhaps it was just a reflection of the sky upon it?  
  
To the right side of his reflection, Duo saw Quatre and Trowa walking arm-in-arm towards him, conversing with each other. He felt that deep, sinking feeling in his chest again, making him want to vomit. They walked closer and closer, until they were right behind his reflection. Disallowing curiosity to get the best of him, he didn't turn around, but instead kept his gaze onto their reflections. They walked on by, ignoring him looking down at the river. Trowa wrapped his arm around Quatre, pulling him closer, and then continued walking. Finally, Duo lifted his head up and looked to his right, where they would be by now. All he saw was the silent streets and the storm of rose petals, still falling from the sky. The people, vehicles, and all life were still frozen in time.  
  
"The hell's going on here...?" Duo asked himself, out loud. He looked back down to the river, which had risen up to just below Duo's feet. He leaned over the railing, looking for Quatre and Trowa in the water's reflection. When he couldn't find them, he sighed deeply and rested his head against the rail. It was warm, for some reason...and wet. Instantly, he shot back up and looked down at it, but there was nothing. He looked down at his reflection, and saw that there was blood all over the rail underneath him...and it was all coming from his wrists. He lifted them both up to his face. They were clean and un-scratched, but his reflection showed otherwise. Blood trickled down his arms at an alarming rate, staining his white undershirt. He could feel the thick wetness of the blood, but why was his reflection showing this, if he wasn't even harmed?  
  
Suddenly, he began to feel dizzy. His blood continued to drain out of his body, leaving him light-headed. He leaned over the rail for support. Questioning whether or not the blood was real, Duo leaned over the rail more so to touch the water. Just as he felt the strange warmness of the water run over his fingertips, he saw another person standing behind his reflection, holding up a bloodied knife. The stranger's dark, tanned face was covered by his short, lilac colored wavy hair. He seemed to smirk at Duo. Before Duo could lift himself back up from the rail, his reflection reached out of the water and grabbed onto his wrist, the reflection's hand covered in blood. Taken off guard, Duo struggled briefly, before the strength of his reflection outdid him and yanked him into the river, which was awfully warm and tasted like blood.  
  
That sure as hell wasn't a daydream.  
  
~*~  
  
The smell of roses...the chirping of birds...the voices of strangers...  
  
Duo almost leaped out of the small, firm bed that he was laying in. He had bandages on each of his wrists, bandages around his chest, and even around his head . His suddenly action sent a sharp, physical pain down his chest. His head throbbed with pain, something similar to a migraine. With a groan, he laid back down onto the firm bed, looking upwards at the white ceiling.  
  
"Are you awake now, Mr. Maxwell?" asked a familiar voice. Duo rolled his head to the side, seeing the fame of a short woman with short, dark blue hair, having long bangs in the front. She looked awfully familiar...  
  
"Hilde?" asked Duo as he forced himself to sit upwards, despite the stinging pain in his chest. The woman's eyebrows rose, a bit astonished.  
  
"Wow... I knew your name, but how did you know mine?" she asked. Duo ran a hand through his hair, only to find that it was out of its usual braid.  
  
"Where am I and how did I get here?" he asked her. Hilde grinned, placing her hands into her lap, very lady-like. This action alone astonished Duo. He turned fully towards her, getting a better look. She wore a white and light, pale blue-green sailor school girl uniform, complete with a tie and mini-skit. She looked... so different from what Duo was used to seeing.  
  
"About three days ago, the school chairmen, Zechs Merquise, found you in the river inside the school grounds. You were unconscious and had various wounds to your chest and your head. The most serious were the ones on your wrists; which brings me to ask..." Hilde leaned forward and took Duo's hand, turned it over, and ran her fingers lightly over the bandages.  
  
"Were these intentional?" she asked, keeping her gaze onto his bandages. Duo looked down at them, and then paused for a moment, thinking of the vents that lead up to this. He saw his reflection, with bloodied wrists... after seeing Quatre and Trowa together.  
  
And that strange tanned man with the lilac colored hair.  
  
"I... don't know," he replied, honestly. Hilde stopped running her fingers over the bandages.  
  
"Can you tell me where I am now?" he asked. Hilde sat back into her chair and replaced her hands into her lap.  
  
"Ohtori Academy," she replied. Duo raised an eyebrow, and then placed one of his hands behind him, supporting him.  
  
"Where?" he asked, dumbly. Hilde grinned. Before she could repeat herself, Duo spoke again.  
  
"And what the hell was Zechs doing around here? And where's Quatre? Heero? The others?" he asked, half to himself.  
  
"Zechs is a chairman at this school. He was on his way to a meeting when he happened to spot you in the river. And if you are speaking of Quatre Winner, Heero Yuy, and the rest of the student council, I believe that they are in class," she informed him, calmly. Duo blinked in reaction. Zechs was a chairman at this place? And Quatre and the rest were in student council here? Since when did they all attend the same school? Where the hell -was- he?  
  
Suddenly, the entrance to the small room opened and in walked another women, who wore a white suit and also had short blue hair, her long bangs pushed over to one side of her face, her blue eyes darting to Duo, then to Hilde.  
  
"He woke up, Noin," said Hilde, indicating to Duo. Noin looked back to Duo, studying him for a moment. Duo felt himself tense up under her stare, though it wasn't intense.  
  
"I'm glad he's well. We have the arrangements prepared for him," she said. Duo blinked, confused, then looked to Hilde.  
  
"Arrangements? For what?" he asked her. Hilde grinned again.  
  
"When Zechs brought you in, he was curious about whether or not you would have amnesia. He found out who you were, because of your identification card inside your wallet. According to school records, you were enrolled here at this school some time ago, but never showed up. Now that you've finally arrived, you can catch up on your schoolwork and whatnot, right?" said Hilde, the grin still upon her face. Duo looked down at himself. He was wearing a white tank top and white pants that definitely weren't his. He guessed that they had his priest attire elsewhere.  
  
"I was... enrolled here?" he repeated. Noin nodded, and then placed a hand onto Hilde's shoulder.  
  
"You're to return to class now, Miss Schibecker," she said. Hilde looked up at her, and then nodded. She looked over at Duo, meeting him with a grin, and then slowly stood up from the chair that she was sitting in. She gathered her small book bag that rested next to her chair, and then proceeded out the room, turning to Duo with one last grin. That girly grin of Hilde's sent a quick chill down his back. He -never- knew that she could grin that way.  
  
"Now, Mr. Maxwell, if you are well enough to walk, I shall accompany to your dorm," Noin said, her voice in a slight monotone. Duo looked up at Noin, and then shrugged lightly, that shrug alone causing another wave of pain down his chest. 'I'mma Gundam pilot; this should be nothin',' he thought to himself. With that though, Duo tossed aside the thin blanket that cover him, and then proceeded to literally hop off of the firm bed. He didn't make it.  
  
"Are you all right, Mr. Maxwell?" asked Noin as she leaned over him. Duo grunted in pain, having landed on his chest and his legs up in the air, against the hard railing of the bed. His face was just about smashed up against the floor.  
  
"Does it look that way?" he asked, annoyed. Noin sighed, then took Duo's legs off of the bed and set them down on the floor. Duo grunted painfully again, and then lifted his body off the floor in a push-up position. Oh yeah, his body was quite sore.  
  
"Please follow me, Mr. Maxwell," said Noin as she began to head towards the door. Duo began to follow her, and then realized something.  
  
"Where's my clothes?" he asked. Noin kept silent as she led him out of the small room and into a hallway. She stopped at a door, and then stood aside.  
  
"Right in here, Mr. Maxwell. I shall wait for you while you change your attire," she said. Duo nodded, then placed his hand on the doorknob and turned slowly, still in the confusion of this new place.  
  
As Duo walked into the room, he noticed that it was yet another small room for patients. In front of him on an empty bed was a long sleeved black shirt, complete with golden yellow trimmings, and black slacks. 'Huh, these aren't my clothes,' thought Duo. With that thought, he peeked out of the door to Noin.  
  
"Hey, these aren't my clothes," he said. Noin, leaning against the wall with her arms folded patiently over her chest, stared at him, blankly.  
  
"Yes, they are. That is your Ohtori Academy uniform," she said. Duo blinked a couple of times, before shaking his head quickly.  
  
"Y'mean I gotta wear a uniform to school?" he asked. Noin kept her blank expression as she nodded her head, slowly.  
  
"Of course, Mr. Maxwell. Now, if you would please, change your attire so we may be on our way," she said. Releasing a quick sigh of defeat, Duo slipped back into the room and closed the door behind him.  
  
Duo walked out of the room in his new Ohtori Academy school uniform, complete with his boots, his watch, and his hair back into its trademark braid. He turned to Noin and nodded for her to continue. She sharply turned and proceeded to lead him to his dorm, which Duo was also dreading to see.  
  
"You've never been here at the Ohtori Academy, have you, Mr. Maxwell?" she asked as they walked outside. Duo's jaw dropped as he saw the school before him. There were different buildings, all with complex and puzzling marble stairs leading up to them. There were students everywhere, going to and from class. The female students wearing the same sailor school girl uniform that Hilde was wearing, while most of the male student body was wearing the same attire as Duo, except for one, little feature. The color of their uniform was a navy blue, while his was black... odd. One thing that stood out from all the other details about the school though, was that there was a heavy scent of roses. And red rose petals floated about the campus, and they all seemed to be coming from the highest flight of stairs at the school, which supported a large pillar. Duo decided that there must've been a garden of red rose bushes up there.  
  
"No... no I haven't," he replied, after finding his voice again.  
  
"Ah. So where've you been all this time, Mr. Maxwell?" she asked, her back to him as she continued on walking. Duo continued to look about the school in awe.  
  
"Call me Duo," was all he said, as he looked at the various students, attempting to spot anyone familiar. He heard Noin respond with a "Yes Duo", and continued on walking. He saw a crowd of students huddled over in one corner of the school, and two points going up and down from the middle of the crowd of students. 'What the hell's that?' he wondered. He stopped and squinted to try and figure out what -was- going on. The two points turned out to be... swords? Fencing swords, at that; foils, to be more specific.  
  
"Uhh... Noin? What's going on over there?" Duo asked, pointing to the crowd of students. Noin stopped and turned around, casually looking over.  
  
"Oh, the student council seems to be in a practice spar," she said, calmly. Duo's ear perked up at 'student council'. Isn't that what Hilde said about Quatre and the rest being a part of? He quickly began to make his way towards that crowd.  
  
"I'll be right back!" he shouted to Noin. Noin sighed as she folded her arms and waited.  
  
Duo ran up and pushed his way through the crowd of cheering students. He heard them shout very familiar names.  
  
"Get 'em, Wufei!!"  
  
"You can win, Trowa!!"  
  
Duo figured out that that must be who was sparring. As he finally pushed his way to the front of the crowd, he saw two figures, both in fencing attire, both donning fencing masks, and both using foils in their spar. They both actually seemed pretty good. Duo waited anxiously to see who would be the victor- and to see if the fighting pair really was Wufei and Trowa.  
  
Looming over to the side, on a higher level then the crowd of students, Duo felt his heart jump at who he saw. Standing on a balcony not that higher, was Quatre. His brilliant, baby blue eyes were wide and locked onto the spar, his bright, blonde hair waving ever so slightly with the slightest hint of wind, and his hands clung onto the marble rail of the balcony. He wore a uniform that was different than all the other students; it consisted of a pink, gold trimmed long sleeved coat that reached his waist. He couldn't tell the color of his pants, due to him standing behind the rail. At the moment, he didn't care. He could see Quatre's innocent- looking face, and that was enough for him.  
  
Suddenly, he glanced a bit behind Quatre and saw Heero standing right beside him, looking down onto the spar below also, though not looking as anxious. He wore a coat like Quatre's, but his was a bright red instead, and had black sleeves. He had that ice-cold stare in his eyes, once again, totally unaware of Duo's presence. Standing closely behind him was Relena Darlian. She wore the same school uniform as Hilde. She also kept her eyes locked onto the spar below, standing so close to Heero that her arm practically brushed against his.  
  
Hearing the crowd give a sudden cheer, Duo turned his attention back to the spar. One of the fencers had his foil at the other fencer's throat. He heard the losing fencer growl something at the winner, then take a step back and take his fencing mask off. It was Wufei.  
  
The other fencer pulled back his foil, and then also removed his mask. As Duo suspected, it was Trowa. The one he was gradually beginning to hate, even though he never did anything to him. That hair...GOD it annoyed Duo.  
  
"Troooowa~!"  
  
Duo looked upwards at the balcony and saw Quatre waving to Trowa, such a happy smile on his face. Trowa looked up and smiled that smile he'd only give Quatre. Duo felt his stomach begin to grow upset again.  
  
Quickly, he looked over and saw Noin, still standing in the same spot with her arms folded, waiting patiently. She must've been really patient to have just been waiting there calmly. Best not get on her bad side at such an early 'acquaintance'.  
  
Looking back towards the two fencers, he saw both Trowa and Wufei begin to make their way to the balcony stairs. He made another quick glace up the balcony to where Quatre, Heero, and Relena were standing, but they weren't there anymore. The crowd began to clear up; no more spar to see. Duo turned around and began to depart also, back to where Noin stood; to where he would be lead to his chambers of this strange yet intriguing school.  
  
The question was: how did Duo end up there, and how would he leave? Perhaps maybe one of the other pilots knew. Perhaps Quatre knew. 


	2. The Black Rose Bud

((I do not own Gundam Wing or Shoujo Kakumei Utena, blah blah blah, just forgot to mention it last time...my bad))  
  
"The Black Rose Bud"  
  
~*~  
  
A beeping nose. It's rather annoying. Shut up. Go away.  
  
Duo swung his arm outside from the bed covers and hit the small alarm clock set on a table next to his bed. It fell and hit the floor, finally shutting up its alarm. Finally, now to get more sle-  
  
Instantly, Duo shot up from bed and picked up the alarm clock. Class was set to start in. fifteen minutes? Quickly, he dropped the alarm clock and headed towards the bathroom.  
  
'I thought I set that damn thing earlier...!' he thought to himself, angrily. Even though Duo was a new student at the Ohtori Academy, Noin had informed him that he was to immediately start class the very next day. She also had Duo stay in the East Hall; a pretty far distance from the main campus. The dormitory building itself would've been lonely, except for dust and insects, had not Duo moved in yesterday evening. Having nothing but his priest attire, he was suddenly glad that the school had furnished him with a place to stay, a school uniform, and any other necessities he might need.  
  
Literally running out of the bathroom and in the middle of the process of braiding his hair, he spotted something unfamiliar on his dresser. There was a small, white envelope with a ring next to it, the envelope baring a red rose seal on it. After finishing his braid, Duo walked over to his dresser and looked at the ring, then at the envelope. Casting away his gaze from the ring for a moment, he casually opened up the envelope and withdrew a small letter from it. Strangely, the paper that the letter was printed on carried the heavy scent of roses. Coincidence? Duo didn't think so.  
  
Expecting to see a reminder of the school rules and whatnot, the letter only contained one sentence:  
  
"Be free and revolutionize the world..."  
  
Duo raised an eyebrow at that. What did -that- mean? He looked back at the ring. He folded back up the letter and placed it back into the envelope, taking the ring and holding it up to get a better look at it. It was white all about, and in the center of the outside of the ring was a small circle with the same rose seal was on the envelope, but the rose was a deep violet color instead...almost black. Duo slid it onto his right ring finger and held up his hand. The ring fit his finger perfectly. Lowering his hand, he placed his left hand over it and attempted to slide it off. 'Oh shit, it's stuck,' he thought to himself as he pulled harder. He tugged at it a bit more with his right arm and attempted to yank it with his left. He pulled harder and harder, until his left hand slipped off his finger. He grunted lightly at the pain that followed. 'I'll deal with it later,' he thought to himself as he reached over for his provided black book bag. He took one last glance in the mirror before heading out the door. It still had a little dust on it; as did the rest of his room. He didn't clean up much of it last night, and all that cleaning tired him out. And he wasn't even done! At that though, he brushes a little dust off the shoulder of his black school uniform, then quickly headed out the door, and headed for the main campus.  
  
~*~  
  
The sound of a sharp slap caught Duo's ears.  
  
Duo slowed down his running pace to a stop. The only sound that echoed in the large hallway was his own running footsteps, until the sound of a slap was heard. Soon, he heard another, then the collapse of someone. Was there going to be a fight?  
  
Changing his direction, Duo slowly began to walk towards the area of where he heard the slap. Turning around by a corner, facing a large flight of stairs, there stood Heero, in the same red school uniform that he was wearing yesterday, complete with a golden trim and white slacks and formal white shoes. He had his right hand raised threateningly, and below him against another wall was Relena, with her black book bag lying next to her and herself huddled towards the wall, her left cheek a bright red color. She seemed to be trembling.  
  
"Heero!"  
  
Heero turned his gaze to Duo, meeting his eyes with a sharp glare. Duo felt himself jump slightly from Heero's sudden stare. Relena, still huddled by the wall, also turned her gaze to Duo. Her eyes were watery with fright in them.  
  
"Who are you?" asked Heero, his voice sounding dangerous. Duo tilted his head to the side, and then raised one of his hands to scratch the back of his neck.  
  
"It's me, Heero... Duo," he said. Heero lowered his hand and turned fully to Duo. Relena hesitated for a moment, before slowly raising to her feet. She bent down and picked up her book bag, holding it close to her chest with both her arms wrapped around it.  
  
"I don't recall having seen you around here," said Heero. Duo met his fierce gaze again, then lowered his hand from his neck and waved it about in front of him.  
  
"Well, I just came here yesterday. Saw you and Quatre on that balcony, y'know? Oh, she was there too," he indicated to Relena, and then continued, "but what I wanna know is why are you treating her this way? True, she's annoying as hell and we all don't like her, but don't you think that this is a bit extre-"  
  
Heero's eyes grew as he spotted the ring upon Duo's right ring finger. He quickly walked up to him and grasped his wrist tightly, bringing it up and to get a good look at it.  
  
"Where did you acquire this?!" he asked. Duo blinked, then glanced at the ring and forced a grin.  
  
"Found it on my dresser this morning... kinda stuck there, though," he said. Heero's eyes narrowed as he stared into Duo's, studying him for a moment. Duo felt himself begin to cower under that fierce gaze.  
  
"If you really wish for me to stop treating the Rose Bride in such a manner, then why not fight for her?" Heero asked, the corner of his mouth curling into a slight smirk. Duo's eyes widened and he shook his head quickly.  
  
"What? No, I just said that I think that this is a bit extre-"  
  
"If you feel that strongly about it, I challenge you to a Duel, Duo," Heero interrupted. He let go of Duo's wrist, then turned around and grabbed Relena by her lower arm.  
  
"After your last class, meet me at the Dueling grounds. Bring a sword and some luck," he said, tauntingly. He quickly began to walk away with Relena almost being dragged behind him, allowing herself to be. As he walked past Duo, he flashed him another smirk, though this one sent a chill down Duo's spine. Quickly, Duo turned around and watched as Heero walked away with Relena, down the hall and soon, out of the building.  
  
"Shit! I'm late!" said Duo as he glanced down at his watch. Quickly, he began to run back in the direction from which he came and headed for his first hour class.  
  
***  
  
Knocking at the door first, Duo waited for an answer. After a moment, it opened slowly, with the teacher standing behind it.  
  
"Yes...?" the female teacher asked. Duo's eyes widened. It was Sally Po!  
  
"Wait, you must be the new student, correct?" she asked quickly. Before Duo could open his mouth, Sally took a step back and gestured him into the class. Hesitating for a moment, Duo slowly stepped into the large classroom. In less than a second, Duo felt the gaze of almost all the students resting upon him...judging him. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable.  
  
"Your name must be Duo Maxwell. Since today is your first day, I'll let this tardy slip. But let me warn you, another tardy and we've got problems," she said, calmly. Duo nodded slowly, looking from student to student. Suddenly, he spotted a familiar face in the back of the class. There, sitting in the back corner of the classroom, was Wufei. He was engulfed in a textbook before him, his reading glasses presently on his face. He didn't seem to notice the sudden class interruption.  
  
"Duo, you're to sit by Wufei Chang. You see that empty seat in the back of the classroom?" asked Sally, indicating to the empty desk to the right of Wufei. Duo nodded slowly, and then began to walk to that desk. The heavy weight of the classroom's gaze was still upon him, causing him to grin nervously at the crowd as he took his seat. He placed his black book bag onto the desk top and looked upwards to the front of the class as Sally took her place behind the teacher's desk.  
  
"Now, proceeding with the lesson for today..."  
  
Duo glanced at Wufei, who was still absorbed in the textbook. His uniform was in the same style as Heero's and Quatre's, but he wore a light blue overcoat instead, complete with a gold trimming and white slacks. Duo guessed that that was the attire of the student council, except each member had his or her own colored overcoat.  
  
"Hey... Wufei!"  
  
Wufei ignored Duo and continued to devour the text with his eyes scanning across its pages.  
  
"Wufei!"  
  
Ignoring him once again, Wufei continued to read silently, ignoring both Duo and Sally's lesson.  
  
"Wuffles!"  
  
Finally, Wufei's eyes escaped the white pages of knowledge and narrowed slightly at Duo. He proceeded to turn the page of the textbook, before Duo interrupted him.  
  
"Wufei, please tell me that you remember me!" Duo said quietly, just enough for Wufei to hear. Wufei raised an eyebrow, then lifted his head up from the textbook and faced Duo, looking him up and down; studying him briefly.  
  
"How do you know my name?" he asked, calmly. Duo exhaled and shook his head.  
  
"Other than Sally pointing you out, we're-"  
  
"Mr. Maxwell, I don't appreciate you ignoring today's lesson," said Sally, sharply. Duo jumped at her voice. He quickly sat upright and forced a nervous grin at her.  
  
"My bad," he said, nervously. Sally eyed him, then turned her back and continued with her lecture. Quickly, Duo looked over to Wufei again, who was engulfed back in his textbook.  
  
"Chang! What the hell is this?" asked Duo, holding up his right arm to show him the rose ring. Wufei lifted his gaze up from his book, and then looked at Duo's ring. Quickly, he sat up and placed the textbook on the desk, along with his reading glasses.  
  
"Where'd you get that?" he asked.  
  
"It was on my dresser with a letter with this seal on it," he said, pointing to the rose on the ring.  
  
"What did the letter say?" Wufei asked. Duo drew back his hand and leaned on the desk top with his arm.  
  
"Something about being free and revolutionizing something," he said. Wufei nodded, then sat back and lifted up his right hand, showing Duo that he bore the exact same ring- except for his contained a blue rose, rather than a black rose.  
  
"As far as I know, only the student council members bare the Rose Seal," he said. Duo's eyes widened slightly.  
  
"Am I in student council?" he asked, anxiously. Wufei lowered his hand and shook his head.  
  
"Unless you receive a letter from World's End specifically saying that you are to participate in the Student Council, no," he said. Duo paused, blinked, and opened his mouth to ask Wufei about 'World's End', but the Chinese continued.  
  
"But since you bare the Rose Seal, I take it that you are to participate in the Duels to obtain the Rose Bride," said Wufei. 'Rose Bride... Heero said something about that earlier,' Duo thought that to himself. He opened his mouth to ask Wufei about that.  
  
"Mr. Maxwell!"  
  
Duo jumped at the sound of Sally's voice. He turned to face the front of the class and offered yet another nervous grin.  
  
"I'm sorry! Won't happen again," he said. Sally narrowed her eyes slightly, keeping her gaze upon Duo for another moment, before returning back to her lesson. Wufei leaned towards Duo.  
  
"After class, I'll point out where to obtain a temporary sparring sword and the direction to the Dueling grounds," he whispered. Duo nodded slowly, and then returned his gaze to the front of the classroom, not wanting to be scolded by Sally again.  
  
After class, Wufei signaled for Duo to follow him through the rush of students going to their next class. From his impression of Duo, he had a feeling that if he just told him where to get a sparring sword and whatnot, then Duo's just forget easily. But that was just the impression he got from the talkative American. He wasn't for sure if he was that way or not.  
  
"Hey, what's 'World's End'?" asked Duo as he and Wufei made their way through the various students. Wufei kept his eyes focused forward.  
  
"World's End is that which formed the Student Council. That's all you need to know," said Wufei, bluntly. Duo frowned.  
  
"All righty then. What's a 'Rose Bride'?" he asked. Wufei kept his gaze forward.  
  
"The Rose Bride is the key to obtaining the 'power'," was all he said. Duo waited for a moment, expecting Wufei to add something to his last sentence. When he didn't, he spoke up.  
  
"...And that means...?" he asked, waving an arm in front of him to emphasize his words. Wufei didn't cast a glance at the braided boy and kept walking.  
  
"That means you have to find out," he said, continuing his pace of walking. Duo pouted, and then sighed. 'Stubborn as always.' he thought to himself.  
  
Not long after, Duo and Wufei had walked up to what seemed like a lone classroom. Wufei reached into his coat pocket and withdrew out a few keys connected by a key chain. He fumbled with it for a moment, looking for the right one. Duo had noticed that a majority of students had left to their next classes, thus emptying the hallways.  
  
"Hey, we gonna be late for next class?" asked Duo. Wufei finally found the right key and slid it into the keyhole, pausing for a second before turning it.  
  
"Yes, you are," Wufei said, casually. Duo turned to him as he opened up the door. He stepped inside, and then flicked on a light beside the entrance. Peeking inside, Duo saw what appeared to be a small locker room. Wufei stepped to the side, and a bit of fumbling was heard.  
  
"What kind of sword do you spar with?" he asked. Duo paused for a moment, dumbfounded by the question.  
  
"Sword? I don't use sword," he replied. For a moment, he was tempted to saw, 'I use Deathscythe!', but he didn't think it'd be wise. Wufei stepped into view, his eyes narrowed at Duo.  
  
"...You look like you'd use kendo or something. You know what that is?" he asked. Duo looked up at the ceiling, folding his arms behind his neck.  
  
"That has to do with those big, wooden sticks, right?" he asked back. Wufei rolled his eyes and stepped back into the small room.  
  
"So I'd just come right back here after school, right?" Duo asked.  
  
"After school?" Wufei asked, still in the room.  
  
"Yeah. Heero challenged me to one of those Duels," he said, casually. Quickly, Wufei shot up and stared at the American.  
  
"You've already been challenged by the Student Council president?" he asked, a hint of surprise in his voice. Duo looked at him, and then nodded.  
  
"Yep. That's why I was kinda late for class earlier," he replied. Wufei paused for a moment, and then disappeared back into the small locker room.  
  
"You've never told me your name, other than Sally yelling out your last name in class," he said. Duo unfolded his arms and places him in his pockets. That's right. He'd have to reintroduce himself to everyone here... even to Quatre.  
  
"Duo Maxwell," he said.  
  
Wufei rose back up from the room, and then closed it behind him, without locking it.  
  
"I left out a practice kendo stick out for you. There's a name tag on it with your name. You ruin that sword and you owe the school a new one," he said. Duo nodded slowly.  
  
"Now get to class," he said, as he began to walk in the direction of his next class. Duo's eyes widened.  
  
"But I don't have an excuse for being late...!" he said. Wufei shrugged and continued walking.  
  
"Not my problem," he said. Duo frowned. 


	3. The Black Rose Blooms

((I do not own Gundam Wing or Shoujo Kakumei Utena, blah blah blah))  
  
"The Black Rose Blooms"  
  
Lunch came by quickly. All in that while, Duo spent his time roaming aimlessly about the gigantic campus and threw his way around tons of students. He pretty much figured out where his next three classes were to take place, but where were the dueling grounds? Wufei had failed to point that out to him; even though he said that he would.  
  
Duo's next three classes didn't consist of the other pilots, except in his last hour class he spotted Dorothy, unmistakably. She wore the same outfit as did Hilde, Relena, and the rest of the female student body of the Ohtori Academy. The girl didn't even cast him as much as a second glance, so it was obvious to Duo that she didn't recognize him.  
  
After the bell of his last class rang, Duo gathered up his book bag and began to head into the direction of the little locker room that Wufei had shown him earlier. Thanks to his aimless self tour of the school during lunch, Duo knew exactly where to go. He was hoping that he'd see Wufei or Heero or someone along the way that he knew, so that he could ask directions to the dueling grounds; even if it did make him look like a fool. Heh, but then again, he already was one.  
  
Upon walking into the little locker from earlier, Duo glanced over to his right and instantly saw the lone kendo stick that Wufei had out waiting for him. He walked up to it and noticed that it bore a small note attached to it. Curious, Duo detached the note and read it.  
  
"Great! Guess the guy didn't forget after all," Duo said to himself as he read the directions to the dueling grounds that Wufei had wrote for him. He folded up the note and placed it in his pocket, taking the kendo stick and walking out of the locker room. He began to make his way towards the dueling grounds.  
  
~*~  
  
"A Duelist, sir?"  
  
"Yes Noin, he's a Duelist."  
  
"Is he in the Student Council like the rest of them?"  
  
"No, he isn't. He's just a mere student out with a Rose Seal about his ring finger. From my understanding, he and the Student Council president are scheduled for a Duel today at the dueling grounds. I plan to witness this Duel. Will you accompany me, Noin?"  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
"Please, Noin, call me Zechs."  
  
"Yes, Zechs."  
  
~*~  
  
Upon walking out of the main campus doors, Duo saw a very familiar figure walk ahead of him on another balcony, walking arm in arm with a certain, tall brunette who wore a green colored Student Council uniform. Instantly, Duo felt his heart jump.  
  
'Quatre!!'  
  
Duo quickly sped up his pace, aiming towards Quatre and Trowa; even though they were a level above him. He quickened his pace to a run as he saw them enter a building in front of him. 'Shit! This is out of the way!' he thought to himself. He slowed his pace as he came nearer and nearer to the building, coming to a full stop before its tall, glass doors. He looked up at it and tightened his grip lightly on the handle of the kendo stick, his other arm holding up his black book bag. He walked through the doors and looked about quickly inside the building for any signs or traces of Quatre.  
  
Looking upwards, he saw the couple begin to make an exit to the upper right of him. 'HOW did they get over there that fast?!' Duo thought to himself as he quickly began to make his way up some steps. Reaching up onto the next level, he caught a glimpse of the door closing. Biting his lip lightly, Duo quickly ran out the doors, anxious to see Quatre and Trowa in front of him. Instead, he almost ran into Hilde. As soon as the glass doors shut behind him, Hilde turned around, her eyes widening as she smiled.  
  
"Duo!" she greeted, cheerfully, walking up to him and placing her arms around his shoulders. Duo's eyes grew as he quickly stepped back from her.  
  
"Uh, sorry, Hilde. I'm kinda in a hurry," he said, looking behind her and then to the side. Hilde pouted.  
  
"I'm. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that," she said as she began to turn around. Duo quickly turned his attention back to her.  
  
"No, no! I didn't mean it like that! I was just looking for someone!" he said, quickly. Hilde cast her gaze back up to him, her eyes grown big and watery.  
  
'Scary. She's -NEVER- like this!' Duo thought to himself as Hilde lifted a hand and wiped the side of her cheek.  
  
"It's. all right, Duo. I shouldn't have just-"  
  
Hilde's eyes widened once again as she felt Duo's arms wrap around her and pulling her close into a warm embrace. Even though he still held the kendo stick and his book bag, he seemed to have no trouble as he placed his cheek lightly against the side of her neck.  
  
"Naw, I should be the one apologizing, Hilde," he said. Hilde's face grew into a smile as she lifted one of her arms to pat Duo lightly on the back, closing her eyes.  
  
"No need for apology, Duo," she said, placing her hand on Duo's shoulder. She paused, waiting for a reaction from the braided boy. She reopened her eyes.  
  
"Duo?" she asked when she didn't feel him move.  
  
"No Hilde, I'm really, really sorry and I shouldn't have done that," he said quickly. Even though he had his arms around her, Duo was really looking behind Hilde, to see if he could find Quatre. He didn't want to risk hurting her 'girly' feelings, so he figured that an embrace would give her a different impression than just merely taking her by the shoulders and forcing her to step aside as he looked for the boy that he loved. His eyes darted up and down and side to side behind Hilde, looking about frantically for the blonde Arabian.  
  
"Duo, really, it's all right," said Hilde with a light chuckle. Duo frowned. Quatre was NO WHERE! And now, he had gotten himself into -something- with Hilde. What it was, he didn't know. Or didn't wish to know, at that.  
  
"All righty then," he said as he drew back, taking a gentle held on her upper arms and smiling at her. Hilde's face seemed to flush lightly, as she placed a hand upon her cheek.  
  
"Duo."  
  
'Shit,' he thought to himself quickly. Hilde walked up to him slowly, extending a hand out to touch his. Her hand stopped, as if hesitant, then quickly drew back as she ran past him and entered the building. Duo turned around in confusion.  
  
'OK. what was all that about?' he thought to himself. He glanced downwards at the next level balcony, hoping to find Quatre, but instead, saw the Latin pilot, alone.  
  
'Where's Quatre?' he thought to himself as the uni-banged young boy walked casually, not taking notice of anything but his intended path. Duo leaned over the balcony that he was on and looked about, back and forth, hoping to spot his love somewhere close by.  
  
Suddenly, he heard his wrist watch beeping. Shit! The Duel! Quickly, Duo turned away from Trowa and began to retrace his steps, back to his former path.  
  
After retracing back down his intended path, Duo walked up to a large, aqua-colored stone gate, with various designs upon it and a steady creek flowing calmly in front of and around it. He reached out and lightly ran his hand over the embedded designs of the large gate. Taking a couple of steps forward, with his hands firmly placed on the gate, Duo pushed against it, hoping to make it move. He then set his book bag near the entrance of the gate and resumed pushing against it. Grunting, he added even more of his weight onto the gate. Still, no avail.  
  
The American pulled back and quickly began to look for other means of opening the gigantic gate. He looked a little to his left and saw two, giant door handles, one with a small circle in front. Suddenly feeling dense, Duo placed his right hand over the handle. Then, something suddenly felt very cold against his hand.  
  
Water was everywhere all of a sudden. Behind him, Duo felt little droplets of water on him as it splashed about, along the path he just came, seeming to enclose him around the gate. With a violent shake, the gate slowly creaked open, its aged surface seeming to fall apart any moment.  
  
As the doors opened fully, Duo saw before him a very, very large staircase. It was made of marble and the steps themselves were very wide, leading upwards around what appeared to be an ivory, spiral tower. Questioning how long it would take to climb up the stairs, Duo began the task, leaving his black book bag behind.  
  
It didn't take as long as he presumed it to be. Duo was up at the pillar of the spiral in no time. Exhausted, that is. After all that stair climbing, Duo realized that perhaps his regular exercise routine needed more of his attention.  
  
Looking across the dueling grounds, Duo spotted Heero in his student council uniform, and Relena standing next to him, but not in her school uniform. Instead, she wore a long, pink dress that split into three as it neared the waist, allowing her long, slender legs to be shown, accompanied by black high heels. She wore a golden crown that stood out from her corn- skin colored hair. In both her hands were two different colored roses- one red and one black.  
  
"Welcome, Duo. You've come prepared?" asked Heero, half tauntingly, as Relena walked up to him and fasted the red rose into his left chest pocket, leaving the fully bloomed rose in exposure.  
  
"What about you?" Duo asked, noticing that Heero didn't have a sword with him. Relena walked up to him quietly, the black rose in hand. She reached out and pulled Duo a bit closer, then lowered the black rose into his left chest pocket also, leaving the bloom of the rose out in the open.  
  
"You know the rules?" she asked in a quiet voice. Duo looked down at her and blinked, showing that he didn't.  
  
"The first one to have their rose knocked off loses," she said. Duo nodded as he turned his attention back to Heero. Heero had this evil smirk upon his face, like he -knew- that he was going to defeat Duo. Duo sort of doubted that he'd be the victor, but it never hurt to try, right?  
  
"Now, it begins," said Heero in his monotone-ish voice once again. Relena walked up in front of him, and then turned to the side. Heero lifted his arm and held it behind her lower back, supporting her as she began to fall backwards. As she did, a small light began to form at the center of her chest. The farther she leaned back, the brighter the light grew, until Duo could barely make out what the two figures in front of him were doing. Suddenly, there was a very bright, just about blinding. The shape of the light was vertical as it emerged from Relena's chest. Heero had what appeared to be the handle of a sword in his hands, his Rose Seal ring glowing brightly. The light continued to glow brightly, lighting up just about everything in its path. Finally, Relena's body jerked forward as Heero leaned upwards withdrawing the entire sword from her body, Relena still in one arm, and then held the sword up to the sky.  
  
"The Power to Revolutionize the World!!"  
  
Relena regained her balance and stepped back, away from the soon-to- be Duel. Duo's eyes were wide and his mouth was open in shock. Did. Did he just see correctly? A sword emerged itself from Relena's chest! Was Heero going to fight him with it? It seemed that way; the way Heero pointed the sword straight at Duo, his eyes narrowing in a challenge.  
  
"You think a mere kendo stick will defeat the Sword of Dios?" asked Heero. Duo regained himself and looked down at the wooden practice stick. Now, was this a trick question?  
  
"I didn't think so!" said Heero quickly, charging at Duo with the sword aimed directly at his heart; at the rose. Duo quickly jumped to the side, feeling Heero brush by quickly. His eyes widened as he got a better look at the sword.  
  
"Heero! That's a real sword!" he exclaimed. Heero turned around to face him, lifting up the sword and aiming it at him again, a sly smirk spread across his lips.  
  
"Of course, Duo. Do you think we'd perform this sacred ritual with mere wooden sticks?" he asked, indicating to Duo's kendo stick. Duo quickly turned himself to the side as Heero lunged at him again. Without seeing his next move, Heero raised himself back up and twisted the upper half of his body, striking the sword at Duo's rose. Had Duo not forced himself to stumble backwards, the petals of his rose would have been falling to the ground in defeat.  
  
~*~  
  
"He's excellent at dodging, wouldn't you say, Zechs?"  
  
"Yes, Noin, but is dodging all he can do? I haven't seen him attack the Student Council President yet."  
  
"This is his first Duel, Zechs. I don't think he's ever participated in any form of fencing before, judging by his actions."  
  
"I'm glad that Yuy is taking it easy on him."  
  
"It must be very frustrating for him; he's not used to such a novice."  
  
"I'm sure his patience will grow thin."  
  
"So who are you cheering on, Zechs?"  
  
"No one but myself, Noin."  
  
~*~  
  
Duo felt himself began to grow tired- all he was doing was dodging! Every time he made an attempt to strike at Heero, Heero would either parry it with ease, or find an opening to attack him. Relena continued to watch them both, her hands placed calmly over her lap, yet it was easily read from her face that she was very anxious for the outcome.  
  
Suddenly, Heero brought his sword down at Duo. In a quick response, Duo lifted up his wooden kendo stick to meet with Heero's. The force of the impact of the swords sent Duo stumbling backwards clumsily, gripping the handle of the kendo stick tightly. He looked down at it and noticed- there was a crevice along the 'blade' of it! It was just about useless now.  
  
"Still think you can win?" asked Heero, aiming his sword at Duo, preparing to charge at him again. Duo raised the kendo stick and brought it down to the ground quickly, smashing it upon the ground. The blade of the kendo stick cracked into two, and then Duo raised it again and smashed it upon the ground, sending both sides of the blade flying. He lifted the handle back up; all that remained was the handle and about five or six inches of what used to be the blade left. Heero raised an eyebrow at Duo's actions.  
  
"What?" he asked. Duo held the handle in front of him.  
  
"I know I probably won't win, but just waving around a big, useless stick isn't going to help me either. At least this way, I might still have a chance," he said. Heero shook his head.  
  
"Baka." he mumbled, before charging at Duo again.  
  
~*~  
  
"Zechs! Did you see-"  
  
"Yes, Noin. Quite clever of the boy."  
  
"Clever.?"  
  
"Yes, clever."  
  
~*~  
  
Heero placed so much force onto his next attack that not only sent Duo stumbling backwards; it caused him to trip and fall onto his bottom, with Heero still on top of him. Heero sat up on Duo, applying more and more force to the sword, with Duo only defending himself with the handle of the former kendo stick.  
  
"Do you give up?" asked Heero tauntingly, his lips curved into that sadistic smirk. Duo tightened his grip onto the handle, trying with all his strength to push back Heero.  
  
"Hell. No!" Duo said, grunting in between his words. Without warning, Heero leaned to the side of Duo and forced his lips upon the other boy's. Duo's eyes widened quickly and his heart jumped. He grunted again as he felt Heero apply even more force onto his sword, causing Duo's arms to shake as he attempted to hold the handle steady.  
  
"Heero~!!"  
  
As Heero's eyes opened and darted to his left, looking to see why Relena had just called his name, Duo took advantage of the quick distraction and thrust his upper body against Heero's, forcing their lips to part. Heero turned his head quickly as Duo threw him off of him quickly, turning their positions so that Duo was now on top of Heero. Instantly, Heero thrust his sword up towards Duo's chest, but once again, Duo turned to the side and avoided the strike. Before Heero could withdraw his sword, Duo struck the handle of the kendo stick downwards, its shattered edge of a few inches stabbing the red rose in full bloom on Heero's chest.  
  
~*~  
  
"He was defeated."  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Was it by luck?"  
  
"Perhaps, or perhaps not. Come, let's leave now, Noin."  
  
"Yes, Zechs."  
  
~*~  
  
Duo stepped up off of Heero, leaving the Japanese boy laying on the ground in disbelief. The red rose petals clouded over his chest, while one rested upon his cheek. Relena slowly began to make her way towards the two Duelists, her hands still resting upon her lap, calmly. As Heero saw her coming, he leapt to his feet instantly and reached out towards her.  
  
"WHY did you-"  
  
The Sword of Dios in Heero's hand began to grow brightly. He stopped as he watched it fiercely. Gradually, it began to disappear from his hand, leaving only it's fading light. As soon as it had vanished, Heero lifted both his hands and looked at them. The Sword of Dios was gone from his hands.  
  
"The. Sword." he mumbled. Relena walked up to Duo and took his hand into hers.  
  
"Are you all right," she smiled up at him, "Lord Duo?" 


	4. The Black Rose Duties

((I do not own Gundam Wing or Shoujo Kakumei Utena, blah blah blah))  
  
"The Black Rose Duties"  
  
Duo twisted and turned in his bed, the sheets flapping about and over his body in an almost tight strangle. He was quite restless; the day's events were much more than what he expected. So much had happened in his first day. He became a Duelist, learned about the sacred Duels, and now had 'won' Relena in a recent Duel with Heero.  
  
Duo lazily lifted his eyes up to the alarm clock. It read 2:14. Shit. At this hour of the morning, he was still awake and doubted that he'd be getting any sleep. The day's events kept playing themselves over and over again in his head.  
  
~*~  
  
"Lord Duo?!!"  
  
"Yes, Lord Duo. I am now your bride," said Relena as she clasped her hands over Duo's. Heero narrowed his eyes at Duo, the red rose petals falling from his chest.  
  
"Relena, WHY did you distract me?" he asked, coldly. Relena turned around and faced Heero, her hands still clasped around Duo's.  
  
"It wasn't fair, the way you were fighting. You should know how much I disapprove of-"  
  
"You DON'T think for yourself!" Heero snapped. Relena flinched lightly, her grasp on Duo's hand tightening. Heero began to make a fast pace towards Relena, his hand raised as if to strike her.  
  
Quickly, Duo pushed Relena behind him. Heero stopped and glared into Duo's eyes, piercing his gaze once more that sent that chill down Duo's spine. Quickly, Duo cast his sight down to the ground.  
  
"She's mine now, Heero. You stay away from her," he said in a quiet voice, afraid to look into Heero's glare. Relena peeked out from behind Duo.  
  
"Lord Duo's correct, Heero."  
  
Heero cast his glare to the Rose Bride, as if daring her to say that again. Relena cowered underneath his glare and hide behind Duo once again.  
  
Without a word, Heero turned around sharply and left the dueling grounds. As he began to make his way down the massive spiral steps down back to the campus, Duo lifted his gaze back up from the ground and turned to face Relena. Her soft blue eyes showed him what looked like emptiness. Like that of a puppet. That was quite strange. The Relena that Duo knew didn't look as lifeless; instead, she looked vibrant, strong, like nothing could ever strike her down. She -had-avoided death by the Perfect Soldier God only knows how many times.  
  
"So, uh. Now what?" asked Duo, dumbly, taking his hand away from Relena's grasp. Relena took a few steps back in front of him, a soft smile upon her face.  
  
"We're engaged, Lord Duo," she said.  
  
~*~  
  
'Engaged. What the hell? I don't even KNOW Relena!' Duo thought to himself in frustration as he rolled over again in the bed sheets.  
  
~*~  
  
"Lord Duo! Don't forget your book bag!" said Relena as she knelt beside entrance to the dueling grounds and picked up his book bag, dusting it off carefully. Duo kept a quick pace in front of her, acting as if he didn't hear her.  
  
"Lord Duo!"  
  
He kept walking faster and faster. Perhaps she'll go away if he kept ignoring her.  
  
"Lord Duo!"  
  
Heh. If that didn't work for Heero, it sure as hell wasn't going to work for Duo.  
  
"Lord Du-"  
  
"Stop following me already!" Duo called, turning around sharply. Relena held his book bag out in front of her, waiting for him to get it. Her eyes were wide and her mouth agape. Duo quickly took his book bag from her and continued his pace back to his dorm.  
  
"But, Lord Duo-"  
  
"And stop calling me that! It's just Duo, OK? Duo! D-U-O!!"  
  
"I'm sorry, Lord Duo, but I have to treat you with this courtesy. You're the victor of the Duel and now posses me and the Sword of Dios," she said, keeping up her pace behind him.  
  
"I don't give a damn 'bout all that! Just... Go back to your dorm or whatever. You don't have to take all that abuse from Heero anymore," he said. Relena kept silent for the next few moments, which really amazed Duo. Suddenly, he heard her footsteps stop.  
  
"Well, I part this way. Good night, Lord Duo," she said, bowing politely. Duo turned around and nodded to her. 'Maybe she'll stop bugging me now,' he thought to himself as the girl turned away and began to walk into the direction of her dorm.  
  
~*~  
  
'Will she stop bugging me?' Duo thought to himself as he stopped rolling about in his bed for a moment and looked up at the ceiling. The moon reflected from the window shown upon it. His dorm was quiet. There was no sound, coming from anywhere, even outside. The sound of him breathing lightly was the only thing heard in the dorm room. Perhaps if there were other occupants within the dorm building, it would've been more exciting for the sociable pilot? If some were up at this time, that is, he would at least have some form of company.  
  
It would have been even better if Quatre was in that lonely dorm room with Duo. He'd rather have him than any other person in the world with him right now, even if he was sleeping peacefully next to him. Duo glanced down to his right side and imagined Quatre sleeping next to him, leaning his head on his shoulder and clinging onto his arm, his angelic face shone in the moonlight. Duo felt his heart began to ache with pain as he thought about it. He cast his gaze back up to the ceiling. He wanted Quatre so badly, he'd do just about anything to have him with him. Willingly, of course. It'd only present more pain to the chestnut haired boy to have Quatre be his and not have Quatre return his feelings back to him.  
  
Duo closed his eyes lightly, still imagining Quatre lying next to him. He wondered how it felt, to have someone completely in love with you by your side, never wanting to let go. Your arms around that person, protecting him or her from whatever atrocities threatened your loved one. To have someone greet you with a special smile or to be embraced in their arms.  
  
Those thoughts began to make Duo's heart hurt more. He just wanted Quatre to love him back, and nothing else. He'd give his own life for that blonde Arabian, if needed. He'd do anything Quatre requested of him, even if it was the impossible, he'd still make the effort.  
  
Was this love? Or was Duo on the verge of obsession?  
  
He never got to answer himself. Sleep came and drifted him away in his own pool of tears.  
  
***  
"Time to wake up, Lord Duo!"  
  
At the sound of that voice, Duo shot up from bed. In front of him, and in an almost see-through, short, pink nightgown, was Relena. She greeted him with a smile.  
  
"W-What are you doing here?!" Duo asked, standing up from the bed. He looked around his room frantically and noticed that it seemed cleaner, like all the dust that had accompanied it earlier had dispersed.  
  
"We're engaged, Lord Duo," reminded Relena.  
  
"How did you get here?" Duo asked, finding the belongings of Relena's in the room. She sat back onto the edge of the bed.  
  
"The water is warm enough for your shower, Lord Duo," she said, obviously changing the subject. Duo looked at the open door and back to her.  
  
"I'll have breakfast waiting by the time you get out. Now hurry, you don't wish to be late for class," she said as she stood up, some of her hair falling over her shoulder. She walked behind Duo and began to urge him into the bathroom. Duo, still in the midst of confusion, could do nothing but practically be shoved into the bathroom, Relena shutting the door after him.  
  
After his shower, Duo walked out and saw Relena sitting at a small table with breakfast waiting. She sat at one side, fully dressed in her school uniform, and with a smile upon her face again.  
  
"Take your time, Lord Duo. We've still got an hour," she said. Duo looked over at the clock.  
  
'An hour? Damn. That means I only got three or four hours of sleep last night,' Duo thought to himself, a yawn escaping him as he sat down opposite of Relena at the table.  
  
~*~  
  
"So, she resides with him now."  
  
"You don't sound so pleased, Noin."  
  
"It's not that, Zechs. I'm worried about the boy."  
  
"Oh? Enlighten me."  
  
"It appears that things are happening too fast for him. His first day of school has past, and he's already defeated the Student Council president and obtained the Rose Bride. One can already tell of his confused state. What if that state were to grow, Zechs? What would he do?"  
  
"Is that any of our concern, Noin?"  
  
~*~  
  
Duo and Relena began to walk their way to class. As they did, they obtained a few occasional odd glances in their direction. Even though he was used to attention, those glances began to make Duo uneasy, like everyone was judging him. Just like his first day in class that previous day.  
  
"Is something the matter, Lord Duo? I've noticed how quiet you've been."  
  
"Eh, I haven't been myself in a while, 'Lena. Don't mind me," he said. Relena nodded slowly, casting her gaze down to her book bag.  
  
"DU-OH!!!"  
  
In less than a second, Duo felt a sudden force run and jump onto his back; he stumbled forward to catch his balance. He felt a slim pair of arms warp around his shoulders and a pair of legs around his waist.  
  
"Hilde?!" Duo asked, stunned. He caught his balance fully and placed his hands underneath Hilde's legs instantly, supporting her. Hilde grinned.  
  
"Good morning, Duo!" she said, cheerfully. Duo had dropped his book bag in the process of supporting Hilde, so Relena kneeled down to retrieve it.  
  
"Good morning to you too," said Duo as he sighed lightly, hoping his arms wouldn't suddenly give out due to the lack of sleep. Relena stood up fully and waited in silence, holding both hers and Duo's book bags. Hilde looked over at Relena and tilted her head somewhat, leaning in towards Duo and whispering into his ear.  
  
"Why's she following you?" she asked. Duo blinked, and then cast a glance to Relena. She flashed him another smile as she stood in front of him, holding both their book bags in hand, patiently waiting for whatever he asked her to do.  
  
"Because," Duo said, stopping in his sentence. Why exactly was Relena following him? He knew that they were 'engaged', but was it really necessary to have her follow him everywhere he went? And move in with him, nonetheless?  
  
"Did you know that nobody likes her? She's so weird, Duo! Make her go away," said Hilde as she wrapped her arms tighter around Duo. Duo grunted slightly as he fought with his sleepy, troubling balance.  
  
"Why do you say that, Hilde?" he asked, catching his balance again.  
  
"She has poor grades, she -always- follows the Student Council president around, and she hardly ever speaks! Rumor has it that she can also talk to animals, but I don't know how true that is [1]."  
  
Duo quickly began to wonder why Hilde was being so rude in front of Relena, and why wasn't Relena doing anything about it? She just continued to stand in front of him, holding their book bags, waiting.  
  
"Hilde, we've got to get to class," said Duo as he gently let Hilde down from him. With a pout, she stepped to the ground and then gave Relena a glare.  
  
"Don't you try to pull anything on him, you witch!" she said as she quickly turned around and ran, just as she had run past Duo yesterday before the Duel. Relena blinked at Hilde's words in response, then turned to Duo and smiled, holding his book bag out to him.  
  
"Your book bag, Lord Duo," she said. Duo slowly took his book bag and looked at her, puzzled.  
  
"'Lena, she just called you a witch." he said. Relena nodded, her smile still present on her face.  
  
"I've been called worse. It's no bother, Lord Duo," she said. Duo shook his head. 'No one should put up with that,' he thought.  
  
"Well, we must be getting to class, Lord Duo. I'll meet you at lunch," she said as she bowed to him politely again. Duo nodded, not really sure of how to make things. He looked at his wrist watch and began to make his way towards his first hour class.  
  
***  
  
"Chang!"  
  
Wufei glanced up from his textbook at an angry Duo, standing in front of him.  
  
"Yes?" he asked as he adjusted his reading glasses.  
  
"You didn't tell me that the winner of the Duel gets engaged to Relena!" he said, angrily. Wufei shrugged and went back to his textbook.  
  
"You didn't ask," he said, calmly. Duo growled lightly.  
  
"All you said is that the Rose Bride is the key to obtaining the 'power'! What does THAT have to do with being engaged to Relena?!" he asked the Chinese. Wufei calmly lifted his eyes from the text pages to meet Duo's glare with a stoic expression.  
  
"The engagement is only the beginning," he said.  
  
"Beginning? To what?" asked Duo as he slumped down in his desk. Sally didn't arrive to class yet, so the day's lesson hadn't begun.  
  
"To obtaining the 'power'," Wufei said, casting his gaze back down to his text book. Duo's patience was wearing thin with the Student Council member.  
  
"So what the hell is THAT supposed to mean?!" Duo practically shouted. Wufei quickly looked about the room and back to Duo.  
  
"You're going to create a scene, baka!" Wufei stated. Duo sighed and shook his head.  
  
"All right, what you mean with 'only the beginning'?" asked Duo. Finally, Wufei closed his textbook with a book mark in it and set it onto his desk. He reached up and removed his reading glasses from his face.  
  
"Now that the Rose Bride is in your possession, various Duelists from the Student Council are going to be challenging you to Duels so they can try to obtain her," he said. Duo tilted his head.  
  
"So I take it that everyone in the Student Council wants this 'power'?" Duo asked. Wufei shook his head in response.  
  
"Everyone has their own reasons for wanting the 'power'," he said.  
  
"Are you going to be challenging me anytime soon for the Rose Bride?" Duo asked the black haired boy with a slight smirk upon his face. Wufei picked up his textbook again as Sally entered the classroom.  
  
"What would I do with a stupid onna?" he asked. Oh, right. Duo had almost forgotten about Wufei's sexist attitude towards women.  
  
"Besides, I don't have any reason to challenge you," he added. Duo shrugged, guessing that the 'power' wasn't the only thing some of the Student Council members were after. Smirking to himself, he turned his attention to the front of the class for the day's lesson.  
  
***  
  
Lunch came quickly, and soon, Duo found himself walking out of his fourth hour class, meeting Relena beside the doorway. She carried a small, pink colored bag in front of her, greeting him with that smile of hers.  
  
"Let's go, Lord Duo," she said as she began to lead him away from the traffic flow of students and outside the academy.  
  
Relena chose a nice spot to have lunch in. They sat at a small hill with a pretty tall tree with lots of leaves that gave them shadow from the bright sun, and they could see fields of either green grass or roses about the campus. Behind them, other students were also having lunch on such a peaceful, sunny day. Duo wondered if it was like this everyday.  
  
"Excuse me, Mr. Duo?"  
  
Duo had barely lifted his sandwich that Relena made him to his mouth when he heard the sweet, soft voice of Quatre. He moved the sandwich down to his lap and slowly turned around, looking up at the blonde, who smiled down at him. He was alone.  
  
"I'm sorry. Am I interrupting anything?" asked the Student Council member. Duo shook his head quickly and gestured him to sit down. Quatre took the invitation and sat down across from him.  
  
"My name's Quatre Winner, of the Student Council. Just call me Quatre," he said. Duo nodded his head slowly. Even though he already knew of that information, he just enjoyed the sudden company of his beloved.  
  
"I heard that you defeated Heero in a Duel yesterday, and seeing that the Rose Bride is eating with you, I'm glad to see that it's true. The Rose Bride shouldn't have to stand for that kind of abuse," said Quatre. Duo nodded in response.  
  
"Where did you obtain a Rose Seal?" he asked. Duo cleared his throat. He noticed that ever since Quatre arrived, he hadn't even done as much as greet him.  
  
"It was. Given to me, anonymously," he said. Quatre nodded and brought one of his knees up to him and wrapped an arm around it. God, he looked perfect.  
  
"Ah. How were you able to defeat Heero? I don't think any of us Student Council members are capable of such a thing," he said. Duo grinned lightly.  
  
"It was by luck," he said bluntly. Quatre chuckled lightly.  
  
"That's what they usually say. How long have you been sparring, Mr. Duo?" he asked, a gentle smile across his lips.  
  
"Just call me Duo," he said. Quatre nodded in response.  
  
"Well, I actually don't. Uh, fight. Fencing wise, y'know? I guess you could say yesterday was my first time," he said. Quatre's eyes widen ever so slightly.  
  
"Your first time? And you defeated the strongest out of all the Duelists here at the Academy?" asked Quatre, startled. Duo shook his head, that small grin still on his face.  
  
"Like I said, I beat 'em by luck, not skill," he said. Quatre paused and cast a glance at Relena, then sat upright and brought a hand to his face, chuckling lightly again. He sounded so cute; so innocent.  
  
"It's not good to be so modest, Duo," he said. Duo opened his mouth again to respond, before he saw a tall, emerald eyed brunette walk up to them from behind Quatre. He felt a giant knot tie in his throat. Not now. Not when he's talking to Quatre.  
  
"Trowa!" said Quatre cheerfully, quickly standing up and brushing himself off before giving Trowa a hug. Trowa nodded to him, then looked at Duo.  
  
"Trowa, this is Duo; the one who defeated Heero yesterday," he said, wrapping an arm around Trowa's. Duo bit his bottom lip slightly, feeling his stomach turn. Please, not in front of him. Anywhere but in front of him.  
  
"Congratulations, Duo," said Trowa in a quiet, yet stern voice. Duo forced a grin up at the brunette Student Council member. Quatre looked down at Duo, and as if sensing his uneasiness, asked him, "Are you feeling all right, Duo?"  
  
"I'm OK. Just tired," Duo respond. True, he was tired, but Trowa was like an archenemy, and he was standing in Duo's territory. Duo knew he had no right what-so-ever to call Trowa an enemy when the two hardly even knew each other. Then again, what gave him the right to call Quatre his one, true love?  
  
"Well, I hope you feel better, Duo," said Quatre as he and Trowa turned around to depart. Duo nodded slowly, his expression turning into that of hurt. Quatre must have sensed this also.  
  
"Duo, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to find me," said Quatre as he began walking away with Trowa, arm in arm. Duo lifted his head up and felt something uplifting from him. Quatre just offered a friendship to him.!  
  
"They've been together for as long as anyone can remember," said Relena. As if violently jerking Duo out of a nice dream, he bit his lower lip again and looked down at the ground.  
  
"Just thought I'd inform you, Lord Duo," she said. Suddenly, punching Relena in the face didn't sound like such a bad idea.  
  
Suddenly, the school bell rang. Thank God. If it hadn't, Duo probably would've performed his atrocious thoughts upon Relena.  
  
"Lord Duo, you didn't finish your lunch!" said Relena as Duo stood up and grabbed his book bag.  
  
"I'm not hungry. See you after school," he said angrily as he made his way towards his next class.  
  
***  
  
[1] The reason why Hilde mentions the rumors of Relena talking to animals is because in Shoujo Kakumei Utena, the TV series, rumor has it that Anthy Himemiya, the Rose Bride, can talk to animals. 


	5. The Rose Council

((I do not own Gundam Wing or Shoujo Kakumei Utena, blah blah blah))  
  
"The Rose Council"  
  
"Can't believe you actually lost to him."  
  
"Hn."  
  
". That was pitiful."  
  
".Hn."  
  
"Quite unexpected of you, Heero."  
  
". Shut up."  
  
All four Student Council members sat at a little white painted, round table on a large balcony, the entire school campus in their view, drinking tea. Heero leaned against the balcony, tea cup in hand, not looking at anyone in the eye. The Duel for him yesterday was humiliating, taking into consideration that he was supposed to be the most skillful out of all four Student Council members.  
  
". What about the Rose Bride?" asked Trowa, setting his tea cup down and looking over at Heero. Heero didn't even cast him a glance as he took another drink, purposely taking his time.  
  
"What about her?" he asked, his voice in a small growl.  
  
"Are you gonna try to get her back?" asked Wufei as he stood up and faced Heero. There was a pause, as a slight gust of wind picked up on the balcony. Heero's hair blew in his face, which made his expression unreadable.  
  
".Of course. The Rose Bride belongs to me, and me only," said Heero, stubbornly. Quatre also set down his tea cup and turned to Heero.  
  
"Why hasn't the Sword of Dios reacted when it was in your possession, if the Rose Bride truly does belong to you?" he asked. Heero instantly shot the blonde a glare. Before the Japanese boy could open his mouth to say something, Trowa stepped in to defend his lover.  
  
"He's right, Heero. Perhaps Duo shall be the one to-"  
  
"The Sword of Dios will NOT react in that boy's possession!" said Heero, sharply. Trowa narrowed his eyes.  
  
"How can you be so sure?" he asked. Heero threw down the tea cup, which caused it to shatter as it hit the marble floor and spill its contents at Heero's feet.  
  
"Because the Rose Bride belongs to ME and so does the castle!" he yelled. Trowa sighed and cast his gaze back to his tea cup. Wufei walked over to the balcony entrance and folded his arms, leaning his back against it.  
  
"Who says that she belongs to you?" he asked. Heero shot him another glare as he began to make his way towards Wufei, his eyes narrowed sharply as if he intended to harm him. Quickly, Quatre stood up.  
  
"The Rose Bride belongs to the carrier of the Sword of Dios; how about we leave it at that?" asked Quatre, walking in between Wufei and Heero. Heero stopped in his tracks and shot Quatre another glare. Wufei unfolded his arms, yet continued to lean against the entrance to the balcony.  
  
"He's right, Heero. Get over it," said Wufei. Heero growled at Wufei as his hands tightened into fists.  
  
"Perhaps I should challenge you to a Duel, Wufei." said Heero. Trowa stood up and walked behind Quatre.  
  
"You know that that's against the rules. Duels are not allowed to take place if the Rose Bride or the Sword of Dios is not present," he said. Heero shot his glare to Trowa.  
  
"You know what I mean, Barton," he growled. Quickly, Quatre spoke up again.  
  
"Heero, why don't you practice sparring for a bit? It could relieve some tension from you," he said. Heero shook his head and violently turned around and walked up to the balcony rail, looking down at the campus.  
  
"You know. Duo doesn't seem like that bad of a target," he mumbled. At that, the rest of the Student Council members lifted their gazes up to the Student Council president.  
  
"You're not gonna seduce him too, are you?" asked Wufei, half annoyed. Heero smirked in response. Not only did the Student Council members know, but practically the whole school knew what a playboy Heero was. Almost every week he either had someone new or was busy teasing another. Because of this, many girls, and even guys through out the Ohtori Academy had their eyes set on Heero. Why shouldn't they? He was the president of the famous Student Council, head of the fencing team, and was probably the only one who had real authority through out the academy. Not to mention that he was highly handsome and well mannered- when he wanted to be.  
  
"Why do you say that?" Heero asked, the smirk still upon his face. Wufei shook his head.  
  
"Need I explain?" he asked back. Heero silently chuckled to himself. Quatre shook his head disapprovingly as he sat back down at the table and picked up his tea cup again, finishing the last of what was in it. Trowa shook his head also as he took a seat next to Quatre and folded his arms across his chest calmly.  
  
"Anyways, I don't think Duo is fit for possessing the Rose Bride," said Heero in his monotone-ish sort of voice. Quatre set his tea cup down and looked up at him.  
  
"Why do you say that?" he asked. Heero turned around on the balcony rail and folded his arms, looking at the blonde.  
  
"Not only are his fencing skills worse than a novice's, but I don't think he'll be able to grasp the concept of what the Rose Bride is actually used for," he said.  
  
"Are you saying that the Rose Bride is only to be used?!" asked Quatre, setting both his delicate hands down onto the table. Heero smirked once again.  
  
"What else is she good for? Incase you've forgotten, she's only a puppet in this play. She's incapable of making any friends, incapable of her own independence, and incapable of anything else that life requires," he said. Quatre's eyes narrowed slightly. Trowa sensed his lover's annoyance with the Student Council president and rested his hand on Quatre's.  
  
"Relena is a person, Heero! You can't just use her for whatever needs you have! Even if she is destined to be the Rose Bride, I won't stand here and allow you to use her as if she were just some lifeless puppet!" he exclaimed. Heero chuckled, sadistically.  
  
"That's exactly what she is, Quatre," he said. Quatre bit his lip and looked at the green uniformed student, asking for back up with his gaze. Trowa's hand tightened around his, as he looked him in the eyes and shook his head, telling him without words that it was useless to argue against the Japanese student. The tension at the Student Council meeting was beginning to grow heavier and heavier.  
  
The door to the balcony opened slowly, and all four students quickly turned their gaze to the sudden intruder. Walking in with her head lowered and her gaze to the floor, Dorothy walked in with a hand held broom and a small dust pan. She silently walked up to the mess in front of Heero, the one he made with the tea cup, and kneeled down silently and began to clean it up. The silence on the balcony ensued while she cleaned, the only noise being that of the tea cup pieces being swept into the small dust pan.  
  
"I'm going to go and warn Duo," said Quatre as he stood up from the table. Trowa and Wufei looked at him and nodded, while Heero once again glared at him.  
  
"Warn him about what?" he asked, coldly. Quatre turned and walked up to the door, turning around to smile at Heero.  
  
"About you, Mr. President," he said as he turned the knob of the door and opened it. Before Heero could remark, Dorothy stood up in front of him, shook her head, and then followed Quatre out the door quietly, closing it behind them.  
  
Heero growled and turned back towards the campus, his hands clenched into fists.  
  
"A warning. useless," he muttered under his breath.  
  
~*~  
  
Duo noticed that Dorothy wasn't in class. At first, he thought that she was going to be late, but he figured that it was a bit too late for that by the time the last bell of school rang.  
  
Waiting outside the class door was Relena, holding her black book bag with her smile upon her face once again. Duo walked ahead of her and quickly began to make his way to his dormitory.  
  
"Are you all right, Lord Duo? You seemed to have rushed to the bathroom awfully quick after lunch. Are you sure that you're stomach isn't upset anymore? Do you need to vomit agai-"  
  
"Woman, hush," he said quickly, not in a mood to discuss the events of earlier that day. Relena nodded quickly, and then quickened her pace to match Duo's.  
  
"What would you like to eat for dinner this evening, Lord Duo?" she asked. Duo kept walking ahead of her.  
  
"Whatever's ebidle," he said, lamely. Relena blinked.  
  
"Don't you mean 'edible', Lord Duo?" she asked. Duo shrugged, but kept his walking pace.  
  
"Whatever! Means the same thing, right?" he asked, not looking at Relena.  
  
"Actually, Duo, 'ebidle' isn't even a word."  
  
In his tracks, Duo stopped instantly and turned around. Relena stumbled, but quickly caught her balance again, turning around also.  
  
"Quatre," Duo mumbled out. Quatre grinned.  
  
"Am I interrupting anything?" he asked politely, just as before. Duo quickly shook his head.  
  
"Good. Duo, may I take a walk with you," he glanced at Relena, "alone?"  
  
It felt as if Duo's heart skipped a beat, or he suddenly lost his breath.  
  
"I'll be cleaning up your dorm, Lord Duo," said Relena. Duo nodded without saying a word.  
  
"May I take your school bag, Lord Duo?" she asked. Duo nodded dumbly, as Relena reached over and took his book bag. He wasn't really paying any attention as to what she was doing, but instead focusing most of his attention to Quatre- even though he was merely waiting for Relena to leave so they could be left alone. He began to wonder why Quatre would like to take a private walk with him. It's much too early for them to-  
  
Duo mentally kicked himself as his mind began to gutter onto subjects that Quatre'd probably seclude himself if he ever knew what they were.  
  
"Dinner will be ready when you return, Lord Duo," said Relena as she turned her back and began to head back towards the dormitory.  
  
Quatre turned to Duo and smiled at him as he turned back towards the academy, motioning Duo to follow him. Duo nodded silently, and then walked up to walk side-by-side next to the blonde.  
  
"So how is she?" he asked, first of all.  
  
"You mean Relena?" Duo asked, as Quatre nodded his head.  
  
"Yes. According to Heero, he couldn't stand being around her, and yet, his actions show that he can't stand being without her; unemotionally, of course," he said as they calmly made their way back to the academy.  
  
"Whaddya mean he wants her around unemotionally?" asked Duo. Quatre sighed lightly as they walked into the main building of the academy, Duo quickly stepping in front of Quatre and opening the door for him. Quatre thanked him, and then proceeded inside with Duo rushing inside and quickly meeting back up beside him. There, Quatre continued.  
  
"He wants her by his side only because she is the Rose Bride, and she is needed in order for Heero to obtain the 'power'," he explained. Duo turned to him as they walked through the now emptying halls of the Ohtori Academy.  
  
"What's with this 'power' thing? Wuffles was talking about it earlier," he said. Quatre continued walking.  
  
"Wuffles?" he asked, his eyes darting to Duo. Duo nodded.  
  
"Wufei, that is," he said. Quatre chuckled lightly.  
  
"That's cute. Wuffles," he said as he chuckled again. Duo grinned lightly. Hearing Quatre made him feel uplifted in his heart, a feeling that he wanted more of.  
  
"Anyways, what we mean by the 'power' is the power to revolutionize the world," Quatre added. Duo tilted his head, dumbly. Those words practically flew over his head.  
  
"What's that mean?" he asked as they began to approach another door. Quickly, once again, Duo ran ahead of Quatre and opened that door, allowing the Student Council member access first, then himself soon after. They were now outside the academy in the middle of campus were many mazes of stairways towered to and above them.  
  
"It means that whoever possesses the Rose Bride and the sword of Dios has access to the castle in the sky, which hovers above the dueling grounds," he said. Duo blinked slightly as Quatre chose to walk up a flight of stairs, then he resumed following him.  
  
"Sword of what? Castle?" Duo asked, not quite finishing his sentences as he spoke. Quatre grinned to himself as they walked up the flight of white painted stairs, the scent of roses growing heavier as they climbed higher and higher. Duo also noticed that there tended to be quite a lot of rose petals falling from a pillar above. 'That's probably here we're going to,' he thought. He noticed the large pillar when he first laid eyes upon the Ohtori Academy. It seemed that tons upon tons of rose petals were fluttering down from the top of that pillar, like small feathers that carried the sweet scent of roses within them.  
  
"Incase you didn't notice in your Duel, Duo, there is a rather large castle hanging up in the sky. I guess it wouldn't really be noticeable as much in the daytime as it is at night," he grinned again, "it's beautiful at night. The towers and windows of that castle glow and shimmer with lights that can only be viewed at the dueling grounds."  
  
"Hmm. Guess I hav'ta pay more attention next time I go over there, huh?" replied Duo. Quatre nodded as they continued their way up the steps.  
  
"The Sword of Dios. The reason why many of the students are fighting for the Rose Bride. We're not the only people allowed to Duel, you know," said the blonde. Duo raised an eyebrow.  
  
"But I was told that only the Student Council was allowed to Duel," he said. The other boy shook his head.  
  
"That's what a majority of people believe, but I'm afraid that that's not true. If one bares the Rose Seal, then they are eligible to Duel," he said, holding up his right arm, looking at his own ring, which bore a pink rose on it. Duo nodded, paying attention to every word that came out of the Arab's mouth.  
  
"The Sword of Dios," Quatre began, lowering his arm to his hip as he looked upwards, trying to find the right words to explain with. As he grew silent for a brief moment, Duo cast his gaze upwards also to see if there was anything interesting that Quatre was gazing at. He noticed that they had been walking up the stairs for quite some time now, and only seemed halfway. The rose petals became more frequent in number the higher they climbed; the fragrance of roses growing heavier.  
  
"The Sword of Dios is the key to opening the castle in the sky. I don't know exactly how it works, because as far as my knowledge extends, that hasn't been accomplished yet. From what I do know, though, whoever reaches the castle in the sky will be able to obtain the power to 'revolutionize' the world," he explained as best as he could. Duo looked back at him, and then nodded slowly, letting Quatre's words seep into his head.  
  
"What if the Rose Bride died or something?" the American asked. Quatre's expression faulted a bit. He folded his arms and thought about it for another brief moment. He didn't expect that sort of question from Duo.  
  
"From my understanding, I believe that there would be an immediate replace of the Rose Bride. I don't know why and who would ever become the next Rose Bride. I hope that fate never befalls onto anyone else; poor Relena's got it rough as it is," he said, half to himself. Duo nodded slowly, and then looked ahead of himself. Finally, they reached the top of the pillar. 


	6. The Black Rose Awakens

((I do not own Gundam Wing or Shoujo Kakumei Utena, blah blah blah))  
  
"The Black Rose Awakens"  
  
"We're here, Duo."  
  
Duo looked across the top of the giant pillar that they were standing on. There were hundreds upon hundreds of rose bushes with roses in full bloom everywhere. In the very center of the pillar, there was a large water fountain, surrounded by even more rose bushes. On the either side of the pillar, there were large, ivory gates that reached for the sky with designs of roses upon them, which lead down to another layer of the pillar. At the slightest hint of wind, rose petals strayed from their roses and were carried in the wind, either to other rose bushes or they flew off the pillar and down onto the school campus below. Duo noticed that all the roses on the bushes were a bright, crimson red; like that of fresh blood.  
  
"Duo? Are you all right?" Quatre asked as he stepped in front of Duo and faced him. Duo had his mouth open in awe at the scenery before him- there were just so many roses! He had never seen so many in one spot. Hell, he never even saw a rose until his early teens back in L2, which wasn't all that long ago.  
  
"Yeah." Duo replied, dumbly. Quatre nodded, a hint of concern in his expression. He walked ahead of Duo, then turned around and reached out his hand and grasped Duo's lightly. Duo was sent out of his temporary shock, and then looked at Quatre, then down to his hand grasped in the other boy's. He couldn't help but feel himself grin. With a slight tug, the blonde began to lead Duo into the Rose Garden.  
  
"You'll soon find out that Relena tends to come here often," said Quatre as he continued to lead Duo. "She tends to the roses here."  
  
"Ah," Duo replied. He began to wonder why Quatre had led him to such a place. They just 'met' that afternoon, and yet, Quatre was beginning to act as if... Duo quickly shook his head. No, Quatre couldn't possibly be interested in him! Not this soon, anyways. Perhaps, deep in his mind, he remembered the braided boy? If he did, Duo was quite sure he wouldn't be acting this way towards him. Would he even be talking to him?  
  
"Let's sit down."  
  
Duo was, once again, shaken out of his thoughts by the melodic voice of his love interest. Quatre let go of his hand as he sat himself down on a large, white painted bench, which bore the same rose designs as did the gates of the Rose Garden. The chestnut haired boy quietly took his seat next to the other boy, still in deep wonder as to why he was brought here by Quatre in the first place.  
  
"Duo, you need to know more about the Student Council," said Quatre, quickly. Duo nodded slightly, showing him that he was ready for just about anything the blonde had to say to him.  
  
"I'm pretty sure that you know how Heero treated Relena, correct?" Duo nodded his head. "Good. First of all, I must say that I'm glad that she's no longer under his control. The rest of us Duelists have Dueled him, yet none of us succeeded in retrieving the Rose Bride. Even I Dueled Heero, merely to save Relena from the meaningless abuse that he was implying on her."  
  
Quatre sat back in the bench. "Of course, I lost. Everyone in the Student Council was surprised, to say the least, at Heero being defeated by you. I don't mean offense, of course! I mean that all four of us have tried our hardest, and yet you arrived and defeated him easily. You must be a really good Duelist, Duo."  
  
Duo shook his head, but Quatre continued.  
  
"Because of you defeating Heero so quickly, he has set his eyes onto you, Duo," he said, sitting back up and looking into Duo's violet eyes. Duo stared back into Quatre's.  
  
"Whaddya mean?" he asked.  
  
"I mean that he's going to try anything he can to retrieve the Rose Bride back from you," the council member said, "anything."  
  
Duo sat back into the bench, stretching out his arms behind him and casting his gaze up to the sky. He watched various sized rose petals fly by.  
  
"Anything, eh?" he asked. Quatre nodded and continued.  
  
"Heero has a reputation around the academy as a playboy. It's true, from what I've seen. A lot of students in all grades admire him; want to be with him. They were jealous of Relena, and therefore, a lot of them picked on her; outcast her merely because she was obeying her duty as the Rose Bride and tended to Heero everywhere he went."  
  
'Is that why Hilde hates Relena so much?' Duo thought to himself as Quatre continued.  
  
"He became almost obsessed with Relena- in the sense that he became very overprotective of her. I don't know what was running through his mind, but he still went out with so many students in the school, and yet, claimed Relena as his own, many times. But he treats her like she's an object; a being without emotion. He doesn't treat her like a human being, which pretty much upset me. It's clearly obvious that she's a living human, complete with emotions and expressions, but I think that Heero was just oblivious to that aspect. I disapproved of the way he treated her. I believe that the other Student Council members would agree with me that Heero isn't fit for having the Rose Bride," he said, unconsciously slumping back into the bench. Duo nodded slowly, still staring up at the sky.  
  
"As I said before, Duo, I'm very relieved that someone took her away from that abusive man, but now, I'm beginning to worry about you," he said. Duo's eyes widened. Quatre, worried about -him-? He was pretty sure that he could take care of himself, and resisting and avoiding Heero could be done. He turned his head at Quatre and offered him a rare, true smile.  
  
"It's been a very long time since anyone's been worried about me," he began, "but I can take care of myself."  
  
Quatre's expression faulted, and then Duo quickly sat up. "I didn't mean that you shouldn't, or you should, or. Something like that. I'm just saying that I'm pretty sure that whatever Heero has coming my way, I can face it! I just," he closed his eyes slightly, and then reopened them to the ground, "really appreciate you worrying."  
  
Quatre's face broke into a small, sweet smile, his eyes lighting up as he sat up and intertwined his fingers together happily. Duo felt himself smile again. 'This seems too good to be true. Quatre's worrying about me, he brought me here, and we're alone.'  
  
At that thought of him and Quatre alone in the Rose Garden, Duo felt his face flush lightly. Quickly, he turned his gaze back to the ground, his heart beginning to race. Quatre leaned towards him and placed his delicate hand on his shoulder in concern.  
  
"Are you all right, Duo?" he asked, his voice so soft and caring. Duo bit his lip slightly. Quatre's hand was so warm, so light, it was almost feminine.  
  
"Y-Yeah," Duo managed to stutter out. Quatre moved his hand from his shoulder and clasped it over Duo's hand, which rested on his thigh. Duo felt his heart racing.  
  
"Are you sure? You're not sick or anything, or you? You looked awfully pale at lunch this afternoon; it kind of made me concerned," he said. Duo bit his lip again. Quatre's hand was so close to his.! Suddenly, he was glad that his pants were about a size or two bigger than from what he normally wore.  
  
"I-I gotta go," said Duo, as he stood up from the bench, turned towards the gate, and ran, just about as fast as possible. He didn't want to show Quatre his flustered face, which was red probably all the way up to his ears and down his neck. His heart was beating so fast, and he had this knot in his stomach that disallowed him to speak clearly, just as earlier that afternoon.  
  
Duo had his hands clenched into tight fists as he ran down the steps quickly, feeling a few rose petals hit his face. He heard his own footsteps running down the steps, and felt the wind brush past his face. His eyes were shut tight. Gradually, the scent of roses became a bit faint as he left the steps, his feet meeting the ground. He opened his eyes and rushed into the main academy building, grasping onto the handle and jerking it. It didn't move. 'Dammit, they must've locked it,' he thought. Now where was he to go? He still didn't know the campus well enough to wonder out on his own yet. Quickly, he looked about himself, looking for an escape route. He found a gap in between the main building and a smaller building, connected by the balconies on the higher levels. He ran to that escape route and ran down a small, darkened alley. The setting sun made his visuals a bit difficult, as he tripped over a rock and was almost sent tumbling, had he not stopped himself. In that stop, he leaned against the wall, so close and narrow to the other, and began to catch his breath.  
  
"H-Holy shit," he mumbled to himself. He rested his palm against the other wall and leaned on it, his breathing returning back to normal. He looked back at his path, realizing how long and far he ran in such a short amount of time. No wonder he was so exhausted.  
  
Suddenly, he remembered- he left Quatre back in the Rose Garden! He tightened his hand into a fist again. How could he be so rude? He just left him there, after he warned and explained so much to him. He didn't even thank him for any of it! He just. Left. Why did he leave? Was he suddenly afraid of spontaneously performing some impure act upon the boy? Or was he afraid that the boy would've sensed Duo's feelings for him? Or could it be that Duo's heart began to ache again; knowing that Quatre was so close to him, and yet so far?  
  
Duo decided that it was all three. He couldn't handle it anymore. He didn't trust himself, his words, or his emotions. They seemed out of grasp, into the depths and eternals of space, forever to be frozen and forgotten. Duo knew he couldn't retrieve them himself; but who would? He highly doubted Quatre would ever do such a task. Besides, he was taken already.  
  
By Trowa.  
  
That name sent pain down Duo's chest, causing him to stand back against the wall and place his hand over his heart and grasp it lightly. He hated that name. He hated that person. He hated him so much, it hurt. He loved Quatre so much that it hurt, just the same. He'd sell his soul to the Devil himself if only he could have Quatre return his love back to him.  
  
Only the sun's rays were visible over the horizon now. Duo figured that it was time to go back to his dorm, before it was completely nightfall. If that had happened, he wouldn't even know where to begin searching for his way back.  
  
***  
  
Surprisingly, Relena had cooked up a very good supper. Much more then Duo himself could muster. Even with his current mood, he managed to go for thirds. Now, he lay in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. When he came back from his 'walk' with Quatre, Relena had somehow managed to exchange Duo's bed with a bunk bed; which the two now slept on. She slept peacefully on the bottom bunk of the bed.  
  
As Duo stared up at the ceiling, he felt his guilt seep in; the guilt for having left Quatre back in the Rose Garden. He wondered if he would be angry with him. He should be. He didn't even thank him for any of the information that he provided, without Duo asking, none the less!  
  
The Rose Garden was so beautiful. So that's what holds up all the roses that rain down onto the campus. Where they in full bloom all year? Or are they in the middle of their bloom? Duo planned to ask Relena about that the next morning. Besides, how did Quatre know about the Rose Garden? Oh, right. He was in Student Council. The Student Council probably knew about a lot of stuff that the other students didn't.  
  
With that last thought, Duo flowed away to the land of the unconscious.  
  
***  
  
Duo found sitting in a pretty uncomfortable chair. The sun was setting, which made the hue of the small waiting room he was in an orange. He sat up suddenly.  
  
"You're next, Mr. Maxwell."  
  
Duo stood up from the chair and looked to his left. There was a reception desk, but no one was inside it. He could've sworn that he had just heard Dorothy's voice.  
  
He looked to his right, were there stood a small hallway, filled with the exact same chairs that he was sitting in. The chairs were aligned parallel to each other, almost perfectly. On each one of the chairs stood a sign with a large, red arrow, pointing down the hall. Duo decided to take the hint and walk down the small hallway.  
  
He arrived before a large door to his left with a sign in big, bold red letters that said, "ENTER". Once again taking the obvious hint, Duo clasped his hand onto the door knob and entered. It was a small, light blue-painted elevator. In the middle of the elevator, there stood a small, lone white chair. In front of that chair was a window. To the right of that chair was a speaker. Having no idea what was about to happen, Duo hesitantly sat himself in the chair. Suddenly, the elevator jerked, than began to move downwards.  
  
"How are you?"  
  
Duo jumped at the sound of the voice. It was a soft, calm voice, but he immediately recognized it as Treize's. He wondered what was about to happen. Was this a trap? Was Treize going to have the elevator drop with Duo in it?  
  
Naw, he couldn't do that. Treize was dead.  
  
That thought alone sent a chill down Duo's spine. Was he going to be interrogated by a dead guy? Why?  
  
"I'm ... Fine," Duo replied.  
  
"Good. Now, relax. I can tell you're nervous."  
  
That chill was sent up Duo's back again. Could Treize somehow see him?  
  
"Now, tell me. Why are you here?"  
  
"I don't know why I'm here," said Duo, "I just suddenly found myself in the hall."  
  
"But why are you here? Why are you at the Ohtori Academy? What drove you here?" the voice asked, softly.  
  
"I don't know," Duo repeated.  
  
"Is it Quatre?"  
  
Duo froze in his chair. How could Treize have known?  
  
"What if it is?" Duo asked.  
  
"There's no need to be hostile, Mr. Maxwell. Please, enlighten me. What do you think of this boy?"  
  
Duo swallowed. Should he tell him? Should he tell Treize about his crush, no, his obsession with Quatre?  
  
"Don't hesitate. You can trust me."  
  
". I love him," Duo blurted out. He mentally kicked himself for that.  
  
"Are you sure it's love?"  
  
"Of course I'm sure! If it wasn't, than what's up with all this I feel?!" Duo asked, standing up from the chair.  
  
"Please, have a seat, Mr. Maxwell. Take a deep breath. Relax. Nothing can hear you but me, and what I know shall not leak out between us. As I've said, you can trust me."  
  
Duo sighed lightly as he took his seat again. He slumped forward and placed his elbows on his knees.  
  
"I love him. I love him so much; I don't know what to do. I'd do anything for him; anything at all. If he asked me to cut my hair, I'd do it. If he asked me to kill someone, I'd do it gladly. If he asked me to take my own life, I'd do that too. I'll give him everything I've got; I'd try my damned hardest not to make him cry. I'd do everything my body and soul could do to make him happy. I just want him to love me back."  
  
"What's stopping you?"  
  
". Him. Trowa Barton. Pilot 03. I hate him. I want him to die. I want him to die a horrible, horrible death in torture, just to show him how much pain he's caused me by forcing me to watch him and Quatre walked arm- in-arm, so happily together. I want him to die for taking Quatre away from me. I want him to feel like his heart is being ripped out, screaming in pain almost every night, waking up in dried tears, trying his damned hardest to maintain mentally stable. I want him to feel what I feel; to make him suffer and bleed!"  
  
By now, Duo had buried his face in his hands, his fingers intertwining tightly into his hair, gritting his teeth tightly. The elevator stopped in a jerk. Duo raised his head up from his hands and looked about the elevator. The door to his left suddenly slid open, giving him a sign to exit.  
  
As Duo stepped out of the elevator, he noticed that he was now in a large, blue painted room, its walls bare. In the center of the wall in front of him, there was Treize, leaning against a door right behind him. Beyond that door was a red-ish light. Curious, Duo walked over to the dead- yet-somehow-alive pilot.  
  
"Welcome, Duo," said Treize as Duo stood in front of him. Treize took a step back, halfway into the red lighted room and half in the blue room.  
  
"You want Quatre, don't you? What if I told you that I could make him yours? Under one condition?" he said. Duo blinked, and then folded his arms across his chest.  
  
"What condition?" he asked. Treize smirked.  
  
"Kill the Rose Bride," he said. At that, Duo unfolded his arms suddenly and stared open mouthed at the taller man.  
  
"W-What?! I can't do that!" Duo exclaimed. Treize folded his arms across his chest and leaned against the wall way of the door.  
  
"Kill the Rose Bride, Quatre's yours," he said. Duo shook his head.  
  
"I. I can't do that!" he repeated. Treize sighed.  
  
"Would you prefer to be living in this Hell that you are in right now? Would you like to continue to see Quatre and Trowa, be as happy as lovers can be, knowing that I gave you an opportunity to make Quatre yours?" he asked. Duo narrowed his eyes.  
  
"What if I say no?" he asked.  
  
"Then there's no need for you to be here," the man said as he unfolded his arms. Duo looked at his right hand and noticed that Treize bore a Rose Seal; except for the outside of his ring was black, instead of white, like all the other rings that the Student Council and himself had. While in that thought, Treize walked up to him and placed his hand around the smaller boy's shoulders.  
  
"Duo, what if I told you that you were dead?"  
  
Duo's eyes widened.  
  
"What if we were all dead? You, me, Quatre, everyone. Or what if I told you that none of us were real, but instead exist only as the figments of one's imagination, and that we are only needed to be manipulated to one's own desires? Then we must wonder- are we truly alive? Or are we nothing, lost in this world of nothingness? You see, that's why many people wish to obtain the Rose Bride. They wish to break free of these binds that confuse us and see the truth for themselves- to finally obtain the answer of our true purpose, or to finally find our true selves. Who are you, Duo? Are you living, or are you dead?"  
  
Treize grasped his hand onto Duo's right, squeezing tightly. Duo's face winced in pain as he grunted and pushed away from the taller man, feeling a sudden hot, burning sensation in his hand. It was painful. It made him yell, and scream, and it made him try to kick the older man. Finally, he was released. Duo took his hand and looked down at it. His Rose Seal was black- just like Treize's; and the rose inside was pink, like Quatre's.  
  
"What. What did you do?!" Duo asked. Treize threw his head back and laughed. Suddenly, Duo felt himself being grabbed from behind; someone wrapping their slim arms around his waist. He struggled, and then saw that the person was Dorothy. She jerked his arms back and held them tightly behind his back, pushing her forearm onto his lower back, causing his upper body to jerk upwards. He struggled harder, then looked ahead of himself, and saw Treize walking towards him slowly, with a black rose in full bloom in hand.  
  
"Are you alive Duo?"  
  
Treize grabbed the rose and held it high in front of Duo, its tip sharp and thorns deadly.  
  
"Or are you dead?"  
  
Treize's hand came down and stabbed the end of the rose into Duo's heart. Duo threw his head back and screamed, his blood splattering everywhere in front of him.  
  
***  
  
Duo sat up quickly from his bed, sweat dripping down his forehead. His heart was beating rapidly, as if he had just run a marathon. Quickly, he brought his right hand up to his chest and felt around. Thankfully, there was no blood. Everything seemed back to normal. The morning sun was showing through the curtains. Relena was up already and in the shower. She probably intended to awaken him after her shower. After his heartbeat slowed down, he withdrew his hand, and then looked down at it.  
  
He bore the Black Rose Seal. 


	7. The Black Rose Struggle

((I do not own Gundam Wing or Shoujo Kakumei Utena, blah blah blah. Sorry to those following along for the belated update. I've been . . . distracted . . . Yeah, distracted. *nervous grin*))  
  
"The Black Rose Struggle"  
  
"Lord Duo!"  
  
Relena rushed quickly into the room, her pink towel around her shoulders; protecting her uniform from her wet hair. Duo was sitting up calmly on the top bunk, head hung low and his fingers fumbling idly with his braid. He glanced down at Relena; a tired look in his eyes.  
  
"Lord Duo! I've been worried about you! You were twisting and turning and sweating in your sleep like you were having a terrible nightmare, and I tried over and over again to wake you up but you didn't so then I thought that you'd be awake after I took my shower so then you could take yours-"  
  
Duo raised a hand from his braid, and instantly, Relena stopped talking. She took a step back.  
  
"Will you be all right, Lord Duo?" she asked, calmly. Duo nodded, silently. His faced looked pale, and his eyelids hung low. Physically, he didn't look well at all, but Relena knew better than to ask any further questions; no thanks to Heero.  
  
"Will you be going to class today?" she asked. Duo nodded his head once again.  
  
". . . Very well, Lord Duo. I'll have breakfast waiting when you get out of the shower," she said slowly, as she turned around slowly. Though she couldn't see him, Duo nodded again. Relena made her exit from his room.  
  
***  
  
"Lord Duo!"  
  
"'Lena, I'm fine," said Duo as he sat at the small table. He was still pale; his skin almost white, and his eyes looked empty. He was dragging his feet when he walked to the table. Relena bit her lip slightly.  
  
"Lord Duo, your Rose Seal," she began. Duo looked down at it. It was black. Of course, he didn't forget how that came to be. How would Relena understand?  
  
"Ignore it, 'Lena," he said. Relena once again bit her lip as she looked down at the table.  
  
"Are you going to eat, Lord Duo?" she asked. Duo stared at his plate for a moment, before shaking his head slowly.  
  
"Very well," she said as she stood up from the table. Duo leaned back in his chair and looked out the window. It was a bright morning, but dark clouds were making their way to the academy.  
  
"Are you sure you're going to be all right, Lord Duo?" asked Relena again. Duo nodded his head silently as he stood up from the chair, walking over to the corner of the room to grab his book bag.  
  
"I'm worried, Lord Duo. Perhaps you should-"  
  
"'Lena, I told you, I'm fine!" repeated Duo as he bent over to grab his book bag.  
  
"I could pick up your homework for you . . ."  
  
"I'm going to class. I'll live," he said, half sarcastically as he stood back up, his black book bag in hand. He tossed his braid over his shoulder and began to walk towards the door. He heard Relena fumbling about behind him, putting away the leftover dishes from breakfast, then grabbing her own book bag and quickly running up behind him. As they left their dorm, Relena closed the door behind them.  
  
"If you begin to feel any worse, Lord Duo, I'd suggest you make your way back here," she said. Duo nodded slowly once more.  
  
***  
  
"DU-OH!!!"  
  
Before Duo had any time to respond, Hilde jumped onto his back, wrapping her legs and arms around his body. He surprisingly caught his balance quickly, dropping his book bag and bringing his arms up behind him, gripping onto Hilde's legs and holding her up as he sluggishly made his way to the academy; Relena not far behind.  
  
"Good morning, Hilde," said Duo, in a dull monotone. Hilde lifted her head and leaned it against his shoulder.  
  
"Are you OK, Duo? You don't sound too good," she asked as Relena stepped behind Duo and picked up his book bag.  
  
"I'm OK. Don't worry 'bout it," he said. Hilde hugged her arms tightly around his shoulders, cuddling against his shoulder.  
  
"Can't help but worry, Duo!" with that, she leapt down from his back and stepped up in front of him. Her face faulted as she saw how pale he was.  
  
"Maybe you shouldn't be in class today, Duo . . ."  
  
"I'm all right, Hilde. I'll be OK," he replied, quickly. Hilde sighed just as Relena caught up to them. As soon as she realized her presence, Hilde sharply turned to her and stared fiercely at the Rose Bride. Relena held both hers and Duo's book bags in her hands. She smiled at Hilde. Suddenly, Hilde returned her smile with a powerful slap to her face, which caused her to fall to her knees, dropping both book bags. Students who happened to be about the area suddenly stopped their tasks and cast their gazes to the scene. Relena slowly lifted a delicate hand to her reddened cheek.  
  
"Listen bitch," Hilde began. Duo quickly stepped in front of Hilde and grabbed her by her shoulders.  
  
"Stop!" he commanded her. Hilde's eyes grew wide at his actions.  
  
"She didn't DO anything!" he added, his voice raised. Behind him, Relena slowly brought herself up, calmly dusting off her skirt. Now, the three were surrounded by a small crowd, waiting anxiously to see their next actions. Relena ignored the crowd as she bent back down again and picked up both hers and Duo's book bags.  
  
Hilde pulled back from Duo, wiggling out of his grip. She stared at him for a moment longer, her eyes beginning to water up. She cast a quick glance to Relena, then back to Duo, before turning around quickly and exiting the scene. Duo stared at the path where she exit, the ring of students all gazing at him. He quickly turned around and took his book bag from Relena.  
  
"You OK?" he asked. Relena smiled at him, her cheek a bright red where Hilde had slapped her. The clouds that Duo noticed earlier were becoming more numerous, but were sluggishly making their way across the sky to reach the academy.  
  
"No need to worry about me, Lord Duo," she said. The crowd around them began to disappear. A familiar figure made his way from the dispersing gathering and walked up to Duo and Relena, a smirk upon his Asian features.  
  
"Nice going, Maxwell," he said.  
  
"Great. You gonna criticize me now, Chang?" asked Duo sarcastically. Wufei shook his head as he nodded to Relena.  
  
"No. I was going to give you a message from Quatre, but-"  
  
"We saw that you were preoccupied with other things," said Trowa, behind Wufei. If Duo's face wasn't pale enough, he swore that it could've been just about now.  
  
"What did Quatre say, then?" asked Duo as he turned his back to all three students and began to make his way into the main academy building. Relena hurried behind him.  
  
"Well, we all know that you suck at fencing," Wufei began. Duo grumbled as he continued to walk, grouchily.  
  
"And we know that if Heero were to challenge you to another Duel, you'd lose right away, sooo," Wufei continued. Duo kept his gaze ahead as he continued strolling to his first hour class.  
  
"So . . .?" he asked.  
  
"So Quatre requested us to sharpen your skills in fencing," concluded Trowa. Duo stopped in his tracks and turned sharply to the two Student Council members.  
  
"He WHAT?!" he shouted out. Wufei and Trowa stared at him, their faces calm, and Trowa's half hidden behind that mask of brunette hair.  
  
"Basically, you suck and we have to train you," said Wufei. Duo shook his head quickly.  
  
"Why?" he asked. Wufei shook his head.  
  
"I just told you-"  
  
"No! I mean, I know I suck and Quatre wants you two to train me, but what for?" Duo asked. Wufei folded his arms over his chest.  
  
"We all want you to keep Relena from Heero," he said. At that, Relena raised her head up to the three of them. Duo glanced at Relena, then to Wufei, and finally to Trowa.  
  
"Eh . . . All right?" he replied, not quite knowing what to respond to that with. Abruptly, the first hour bell rang. Students who happened to be standing about quickly began to assemble to their first classes.  
  
"We'll get you outta first hour," Wufei said as he turned to head to their class, Trowa walking beside him. Relena bowed politely as she stopped walking with them.  
  
"Have fun," she said to Duo, smiling once again. Her cheek was still slightly red. Duo nodded slightly as he turned to Wufei and Trowa, walking along with them to his first class.  
  
~*~  
  
"Oh look, he's finally getting trained!"  
  
"Yes, he'll need it."  
  
"Don't you think it's wrong for them to train him -just- to keep the Rose Bride away from Heero?"  
  
"It's their decision. There's nothing I can do to change that."  
  
"There's something different about him, Zechs."  
  
"He bares the Black Rose Seal."  
  
"Should we take caution with him?"  
  
"Yes. The Black Rose Seal symbolizes death; it means he's been appointed to take someone's life."  
  
"You're right, Zechs."  
  
"I'm always right, Noin."  
  
~*~  
  
Duo, Wufei, and Trowa stood in a vacant fencing class room, all three with foils drawn and donning proper equipment, including masks; expect Trowa, who stood against a wall to the side. Duo stood across from Wufei.  
  
"All right Maxwell, come at me," he said. Duo hesitated for a moment, feeling Trowa's eyes upon him. His gut began to turn upside down. They knew he couldn't fence; they knew he couldn't fight, and yet, they insisted on a spar. Wufei claimed that it was to see where Duo stood in actual fencing stands, yet Duo's insecurities told him that it was to humiliate him in front of his rival.  
  
"Well?" asked Wufei impatiently. Duo noticed that ever since he came to this academy, no, this 'world', his insecurities grew along with his self confidence; both in which seemed indestructible before he arrived. No, before he realized his feelings for Quatre.  
  
"Hey, Duo!" Wufei snapped at him. This wasn't like him. This wasn't like the Duo that everyone knew.  
  
"Maxwell!" This wasn't the Duo who could kick just about anyone's ass.  
  
"Dammit, pay attention!!" This wasn't the Duo who was worthy of Quatre's heart.  
  
Duo charged at Wufei, foil first, and aimed for his chest. Quickly, Wufei raised the handle of his foil to meet with Duo's, barely throwing his weapon off track. Taking a step back, Wufei smirked behind the mask.  
  
"'Bout time," he remarked. Quickly, Wufei began to bring his foil's blade to Duo's neck. Swiftly, Duo read his actions and drew himself back, and then quickly thrust forward his foil at Wufei's chest. Caught off guard, Wufei clumsily brought down his foil, brushing away the blade of Duo's foil with his arm. He growled silently to himself.  
  
"C'mon, Wuffles! Where's those ancient Chinese techniques of yours?" asked Duo, himself smirking behind his mask. Wufei felt his blood begin to boil.  
  
"KISAMA!" Wufei yelled, charging his foil at Duo. Duo quickly spun to the side, lifting up his arm and bringing down his elbow to the back of Wufei's head, both making contact. Quickly, Wufei fell to the floor onto his stomach with a loud grunt, arm still aimed forward with the foil. Duo chuckled and placed his foot on Wufei's back, then drew back his mask.  
  
"It ain't good to let anger control ya, y'know," he said, with a smirk on his face. Wufei growled dangerously and bounced back up instantly, almost throwing Duo off, and then jerked off his mask.  
  
"What's with the sudden change of attitude, baka?" he asked the American, angrily. Trowa was watching them both with an amused expression shown on his face. Duo folded his arms, still holding the foil.  
  
"Just remembered your weakness. Does it bother you, Wuffers?" he asked, tauntingly. Wufei narrowed his eyes and quickly donned his mask again, taking a step back and aiming his foil at Duo.  
  
"Again!" he yelled. Trowa then walked in between the two, calmly facing towards Wufei.  
  
"Give me a turn," he said in his monotone. Wufei stood still for a moment, before standing up straight and removing his mask. He shot Duo a glare, before he took Trowa's spot and leaned against the wall, bending his knees and slumping against it, letting his foil fall to the floor in front of him, and then folding his arms across his chest stubbornly.  
  
Silently, Trowa donned his mask and drew his foil, standing up straight with both feet facing apart and his arm in front of him, holding the foil firmly by its handle with a gloved hand. Duo then took his mask and pulled it over his face, himself still satisfied at almost pushing Wufei over the edge. He faced Trowa, his legs apart and bent one arm behind him and the other straight in front, aiming the foil at his opponent, his rival, his enemy.  
  
". . . Now," said Trowa, in a voice barely above a whisper. Eyes widening, Duo bent an elbow and pushed his foil forward, pushing away the protected tip of Trowa's foil aimed at his chest with its handle. Damn, Trowa was ifast/i!  
  
Swiftly, Trowa turned around to his right and elbowed Duo in the ribs. With a loud grunt, Duo stumbled back and held both his arms in front of himself clumsily, protecting himself.  
  
As soon as Duo moved his arms from himself, Trowa's mask was up to Duo's; so close that he could see the uni-banged boy's emerald eyes and his mouth curled into a satisfied smirk. As Duo attempted to pull back, he felt the tip of Trowa's foil rested firmly up on the bottom of his chin.  
  
"Done," said Trowa, his voice barely above a whisper once again. Duo gritted his teeth. Soon, Trowa pulled back and removed his foil. Duo grumbled and took a step back, removing his mask. His face was no longer pale.  
  
"I let you do that," he said, quickly. Trowa drew off his mask with ease, his hair falling over the side of his face again.  
  
"Suuuure," he said, sarcastically. Duo glanced over to Wufei, who had an amused grin on his face, his arms still folded. He shook his head and looked back to Trowa.  
  
"You'd be a better fencer if you kept your guard up," said Trowa, holding his mask at his side. Wufei stood up and walked over to the two.  
  
"Being over-confident with yourself doesn't help any, either," said Wufei. Duo shrugged lightly.  
  
"So I leave myself open a lot and I think I'm all that. Now where do we start working on this?" he asked, sarcastically. Wufei smirked.  
  
"It's not as simple as you think," he said. Duo shook his head.  
  
"That's why I was able to beat you so easily, huh?" he asked. Wufei bit his lip, stopping himself from replying. Trowa sighed and placed his free hand at his hip.  
  
"Seriously, Duo," he began. Duo grumbled and folded his arms. 'Great, a lecture,' he thought to himself. As Trowa began to explain about the rules of fencing, Duo tuned his voice out and began to let his mind wonder onto other things; such as his rumbling stomach, how much he wanted to get over with the rules and spar Trowa again, and even to what Quatre was doing at the moment. Wufei noticed Duo's straying eyes and nudged him lightly. Snapping back into reality, Duo grumbled and stared at the tall brunette, his stomach twisting once again at the sight of the boy. Strange, he was feeling just fine a while ago . . . Perhaps he was just hungry, or something. With that thought, Duo began to wonder what Relena was going to make for lunch. He didn't get a chance to finish his lunch yesterday, because Quatre distracted him. Not that he mind, of course. Surprisingly, Relena was a pretty good cook. Had Duo been at the academy by himself, he doubt that his hunger would ever be satisfied; and the structure of the dormitory building would be no more. He was one of the worst cooks ever, so he knew his place wasn't the kitchen. Reminding him of the dormitory, Duo began to notice that the appearance of the building began to look more vibrant; more alive, ever since Relena moved in with him . . . Which wasn't all that long ago, yet Duo was able to notice the differences. Then he began to wonder how long had Relena been the Rose Bride. Was she forced into it, or did she become the Rose Bride on her own? Perhaps it had something to do with Zechs . . . It had to be! When he first arrived, Noin mentioned something about Zechs being the chairmen of the Ohtori Academy. Perhaps Zechs knew how to get Duo out of that place and back to his base . . . Back into the 'real world'. Well, then again, Duo really hadn't had the chance to ask Quatre himself; or Relena at that. Perhaps he should try asking Relena first, and then-  
  
"MAXWELL!!"  
  
Shaking his head violently, Duo looked up at Trowa and forced a grin.  
  
"And that's the basic rules, right?" he asked. Wufei shrugged.  
  
"Guess you were listening, huh?" he asked, half to himself. Duo grinned. Wide.  
  
~*~  
  
"They haven't noticed."  
  
"They will."  
  
"When?"  
  
"In due time, Noin. In due time." 


	8. The Black Rose Admonition

((I do not own Gundam Wing or Shoujo Kakumei Utena, blah blah blah))  
  
"The Black Rose Admonition"  
  
". . . And so I hope you have a better understanding of the rules of fencing," concluded Wufei, his arms folded over his chest and his head tilted to the side. Trowa stood beside him, standing in a similar stance. Duo, on the other hand, had his back faced to them and was idly counting to see how many windows were inside the fencing room. Much to his amazement, he realized that the stained glass windows inside the large practice room were very similar to those that were usually found in churches. Well, at least the Maxwell church, buried deep within his memory. Instead of religious figures found standing in the window panes, there was a large rose in the middle, accompanied by variously colored smaller roses about it. Quite interesting, how the entire academy seemed to be literally obsessed with roses.  
  
". . . Maxwell?"  
  
The way the sun shone through the colored glass was like a light shining through a crystal, very bright and very eye catching. Duo wondered if sometimes fencers get distracted by such beauty during spars or matches. He knew he would, if forced to spar once again in this room having noticed the stained glass windows.  
  
"Maxwell!"  
  
He didn't notice it last time, of course. Then again, he really hadn't gotten a good look around the place, also. Now that he was tuning out the voices of both Wufei and Trowa, it gave him time to look about and really noticed the features of the fencing room. They were, to say the least, extraordinary.  
  
"Lunch time."  
  
Quickly, Duo spun around to face Trowa, a wide grin on his face.  
  
"Really? Strange, time hasn't seemed to past much now, hasn't it? Well, you know as they say, one can't think on an empty stomach," he retorted quickly, beginning to stride past the two Duelists. Wufei held out an arm to prevent Duo from advancing any further.  
  
"What's a cut six position?" he asked. Duo paused for a second, thinking, then looked into the pair of onyx eyes before him and beamed.  
  
"When you cut in six different places!" he replied. Wufei closed his eyes and bit his bottom lip, holding in anger, while Trowa sighed and shook his head.  
  
"You're not allowed to go to lunch until you have answered all the questions that we ask," he began, just as Duo began to frown, "correctly."  
  
"Awe, come on Wuffers! You know I can't think on an empty stomach! It ain't good to miss out on any of the five meals a day!" he protested. Trowa glanced at the braided boy, unfolding his arms.  
  
"Five. . . ?" he asked. Duo nodded.  
  
"Yeah. Breakfast, brunch, lunch, that time between lunch and dinner, and dinner! Oh, and a midnight snack at times, too," he added. Wufei rolled his eyes.  
  
"Baka," he muttered. Just as he began to withdraw his arm to allow Duo through, the door to the fencing room opened. There in the doorway stood Relena, accompanied by Quatre. The two smiled at the trio before advancing into the room.  
  
"So, how's the training going?" asked Quatre as he casually approached the three. If Duo's goofy smile wasn't big enough then, it was now.  
  
"It's going great! By now, I think I could-"  
  
"He doesn't even know what a 'parry' is," interrupted Trowa. Quatre chuckled lightly as he took his stance locked onto Trowa's arm. Duo's jaw just about dropped.  
  
"Hey, you didn't ask me th-"  
  
"He doesn't know what the positions are either," added Wufei. Duo shot him a glare for both interrupting him -and- making him look like a fool in front of Quatre. At that, the petite blonde chortled once again. Duo sighed and bowed his head. Great. Humiliation in front of Quatre.  
  
"Well, I don't think it's completely necessary to have Duo learn -everything- about fencing; as long as he -can- fence and as long as he can keep the Rose Bride out of Heero's hands, I think things will be all right," Quatre alleged. Wufei shrugged, as Trowa silently nodded his head, agreeing. After that had been said, Relena stepped up to the four and cleared her throat.  
  
"I've brought lunch for everyone," she announced. At the word 'lunch', Duo's eyes lit up.  
  
"Oh 'Lena, my savior!" he exclaimed, clasping his hands onto Relena's shoulders, his eyes looking as if he were about to cry in joy. Relena forced a nervous smile as Wufei smirked, and Quatre stopped himself from bursting into a fit of mad giggles. Trowa merely sighed, but had he been more expressive, he knew he'd have at least smirked, just like Wufei.  
  
~*~  
  
"If you don't like the rules of the Rose Seal, why do you continue to participate, Heero Yuy?"  
  
"It's not that I don't agree with the rules, but I-"  
  
"Don't think that Duo Maxwell is worthy of the Rose Bride. If you're so against it, why not Duel him again to win her back? I know that you're more than capable of victory."  
  
"I can't help but feel that the other three Student Council members are conspiring against me, sir."  
  
"That is why you do not rely on anyone but yourself in this world. You come into this world alone, and you leave alone. In the beginning and in the end, you will always end up alone."  
  
"Ah. . . Then. . . What do you suggest, sir?"  
  
"Stay strong and take what you believe is yours."  
  
". . .T-Thank you, sir. . . ahh. . ."  
  
"Do you like that, Heero Yuy?"  
  
"Y-Yes sir. . ."  
  
"I have a name, you know."  
  
"Yes, Zechs. . ."  
  
~*~  
  
After lunch, Relena quickly returned to her class, as the four Duelists preferred to stay behind in the fencing room. They stood around in a circle, Duo, Trowa, and Wufei still donned in their fencing gear.  
  
"I really appreciate you two taking your time to assist Duo," stated Quatre. Trowa smiled at him as he pulled him closer with the one arm he already had around him.  
  
"Anything for you," he said. Quatre grinned, as Duo folded his arms quickly and turned his attention back up to the stained glass windows. Wonderful. At this rate, the lunch that just settled in his stomach was going to regurgitate soon.  
  
"Almost anything to keep the Rose Bride out of his reach," Wufei added.  
  
"Duo, you don't mind all this, do you?" he asked, leaning against Trowa. Duo forced himself to look up, and then labored a smile.  
  
"Not at all. I take it you guys really didn't like it when Heero had a hold of 'Lena, huh?" he asked. At that, Trowa, Quatre, and Wufei all shook their heads at the same time.  
  
"It's just not right the way he treated the Rose Bride. Nobody deserves that sort of treatment, especially the one who has to carry such a burden," Quatre replied.  
  
"We tolerated it at first, but of course, Quatre persuaded us to take action in 'rescuing' the Rose Bride," Wufei added. At that, Quatre's cheeks held the tiniest hint of blush.  
  
"We didn't mind, of course. Unfortunately, we all lost to him in a Duel, one by one," Wufei concluded.  
  
"It was my fault for talking you guys into that. . . I should've known better," Quatre muttered. Trowa shook his head lightly and placed his hand underneath Quatre's chin, turned his head up to his and locking their eyes together.  
  
"It's not your fault, love. We did what we could," the silent brunette said. At that, Quatre smiled and nuzzled Trowa lightly.  
  
"We know that Heero's going to challenge you again, we just don't know when," said Wufei. Duo nodded quietly. He could really begin to feel his stomach tighten and turn slowly. . .  
  
Quatre turned his gaze to Duo, just as Duo turned his gaze to his. Quatre's sea blue eyes darted downwards, and Duo felt himself unconsciously bite his lip. What exactly was Quatre -looking- at? Without prior notice, Quatre stood up straight, away from Trowa, and cleared his throat.  
  
"I. . . Really need to talk to Duo briefly," he said, quickly. Duo's eyes widened.  
  
"Very well. We'll continue training tomorrow," Trowa said, looking straight at Duo as the latter nodded nervously. Wufei stretched.  
  
"Hey Trowa, let's spar," he suggested. Trowa glanced at the Chinese, nodding quietly. Quatre took a couple of steps away from Trowa as he advanced towards the door, gesturing Duo to follow him. With no better option, Duo began to follow him.  
  
As they both stood by the entrance, away from Trowa and Wufei, Quatre spoke up.  
  
"Duo, let's go for a walk. . . Okay? I'll wait for you here while you change," he said with a slight smile. Duo could only nod and grin in answer, words having to seem to lost their meaning at the moment.  
  
***  
  
Walking out of the fencing room in his school uniform, Duo and Quatre made their way through the emptied halls of the academy in silence. Class was in session, and Duo was beginning to wonder if he'd been excused from his classes merely for fencing training. . . He doubted it, considering the time when Wufei made him late for second hour; without a passable excuse. Sure, Student council members had an upper hand in the school system, but Duo wasn't in the Student Council; he was merely a Duelist amongst the regular student body.  
  
"Duo, you . . . claimed that you obtained your Rose Seal through an anonymous being, correct?" asked Quatre, breaking the nerving silence between the two.  
  
"Yeah," he answered. The two now walked outside. The clouds from that morning were beginning to grow heavier, as the light scent of rain clouded over that of roses. It was a nice combination.  
  
"How did your Rose Seal turn. . ." he glanced at it, "black?"  
  
Duo looked down at his right ring finger. How the hell it turned black made him wonder also. He remembered his dream with Treize and Dorothy in it, Treize talking about killing the Rose Bride, and Treize stabbing him with the sharp end of a black rose. Suddenly, he felt a slight pain trickle through his chest at the memory.  
  
"I woke up with it," he replied, bluntly. He noticed that he and Quatre were once again headed for the rose garden. Every now and then, they'd pass a student or a teacher while headed there, either going to or from class. Nobody stopped to ask them anything; probably because of Quatre's Student Council uniform. 'Must they have more authority than the teachers themselves?' Duo wondered to himself.  
  
"Woke up with it? How so?" asked Quatre as they began to make their way up the seemingly eternal stairway up to the rose garden. With a slight gust of wind, the tiny red rose petals began to make their journey about the campus in waves.  
  
"Eh . . . kinda hard to explain," Duo started. How in the world was he going to explain that he dreamt of a dead guy stabbing him with a rose?  
  
"Well, go on. I'm listening," answered Quatre as they continued walking. Duo took in a deep breath, his nerves beginning to build up within his throat. How could he explain something even he himself didn't understand?  
  
"It . . . has to do with this dream I had last night," he began. A small rose petal flew up to his face and brushed against his nose. Pausing from his sentence, Duo quickly drew back a breath, and then sneezed lightly, sending away the rose petal.  
  
"Bless you," said Quatre.  
  
"Thanks," said Duo as he shook his head, sending bits of his hair to fly out of his braid and in his face. Just as he brushed some hair back and looked up, he noticed that they had reached the top. 'Strange,' he thought, 'I thought it'd take us longer. . .'  
  
Just as Duo's eyes scanned across the garden, he instantly spotted Heero. . . With Relena. They were standing under the giant, ivory gate, next to the bench where Duo and Quatre last were. He instantly felt his muscles tense up. He glanced at Quatre and could tell that he felt the same.  
  
Just as Duo and Quatre advanced a step forward, Heero struck Relena down with the back of his hand. Instantly, Relena fell to the ground, her hair thrown up in the air. At the sight, both Duo and Quatre quickly advanced to the two. Heero turned and glared sharply at both, and then his expression curled into a twisted grin as he laid his eyes on Duo.  
  
"So the prince comes for the princess," the Japanese boy said, as Relena sat up on her knees with her hand covering her cheek. Duo quickly stood in front of Relena, as if protecting her from Heero.  
  
"What are you doing?" asked Duo as Relena slowly stood up, with the help of Quatre. He glanced to the ground and saw a water sprinkler on the ground with its contents spilling out. Relena must've been watering the roses, from the look of things.  
  
"I was just having a chat with the Rose Bride," Heero retorted. Duo narrowed his eyes slightly.  
  
"I don't think hitting her is a way of chatin'," he replied. Heero smirked as he folded his arms, casting a quick gaze to Relena.  
  
"The Rose Bride will be mine, and mine alone," he said, "no one else deserves her."  
  
"What makes you think that?" asked Duo.  
  
"I don't think it, I know it," answered Heero as he unfolded his arms and abruptly placed them into his pockets. He shot Duo a smirk as he began towards him casually. Quickly, Duo took a couple of steps back.  
  
"I'm not going to do anything to you, Duo," said Heero as began to walk past him. Duo bit his lip slightly.  
  
". . . Not now, anyways," Heero whispered as he brushed past the American, a wicked smirk upon his lips. Just as Duo whipped around to retort something back, Heero looked down at Relena with that same smirk, then back to Duo.  
  
"She'll be mine again," he said quietly, then turned back around and headed towards the entrance. As he neared closer, he suddenly threw his head back and laughed maniacally. Duo shook his head, and then turned around to Relena and Quatre.  
  
"You OK, 'Lena?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, Lord Duo," she said quickly. She walked past him and picked up the water sprinkler, then turned back around to face the two.  
  
"I was just watering the roses; they should be OK now," she said. Duo and Quatre nodded silently.  
  
"So, it had to do with a dream last night . . . ?" Quatre continued for Duo as he sat down on the same white bench as before. Relena stood up and walked to the other side of the garden, now watering the roses on the other side. In the distance, Duo heard a faint rumbling noise. Thunder. If it was going to rain, why was Relena watering the roses?  
  
"Well, it had to do with-"  
  
Suddenly, there was a bright, white flash that almost blinded the three upon the spiral garden. A brief second of silence ensured, then a loud blare of thunder soon after. Relena instantly dropped the large canteen of water to the ground, as she dropped to her knees, her hands clasped tightly over her ears and her voice pitched in a loud scream. As soon as it was over, she hesitantly released her ears with slightly trembling hands and looked up at Duo and Quatre, her eyes widened.  
  
"Lord Duo, don't tell him about the dream," she declared. Duo felt his nerves freeze. How exactly did she know what Duo and Quatre were discussing?  
  
"Please, don't tell him!" she reinstated. Quickly, she stood up and straightened her skirt, leaving the water sprinkler lying on the ground.  
  
"Lord Duo, please. . . I don't want to die," she said, looking at Duo with tears wielding up in her eyes. Quickly, she turned away and ran towards the entrance, a slight gust of wind picking up, causing hundreds of red rose petals to be picked up and carried off down onto the campus below. Duo simply stared at the entrance, Relena's hair blowing in the wind as she ran quickly, and then began to make her way down the steps.  
  
". . . Is it that bad?" Quatre asked. 


	9. The Pink Rose

((I do not own Gundam Wing or Shoujo Kakumei Utena, blah blah blah. I've had some trouble uploading this chapter; I don't think ff.net likes me very much, so I apologize if this chapter pops up twice. *raises both hands* IT WASN'T ME!))  
  
"The Pink Rose"  
  
As Relena ran from the rose garden, her dirty blonde hair swaying in the winds picking up behind her, another wave of red rose petals were picked up and drifted off the pillar onto the depths below. Duo stood up from the white bench and brushed a couple of stray strands of hair from his face. Strange, how Relena knew he was talking about his dream to Quatre; or even stranger yet, how she knew what his dream was about; or so it seemed.  
  
"So I take it that it'd be best if you didn't tell me your dream just yet?" asked Quatre, looking up at his comrade, still sitting on the white bench. Duo shook his head as he turned around to the blonde.  
  
"I . . . don't know. I don't know what any of it means. Strange," he said as he turned back to look where Relena last was. 'Weird, how she pleaded that she didn't want to die. Treize was talking about me killing her for some reason,' thought Duo to himself. Another gust, and more rose petals were picked from their bushes and fluttered off the large pillar, like small, helpless feathers in the wind.  
  
"Quatre," Duo began as he turned back around to the blonde. The dark clouds in the sky were only growing darker, the clouds themselves enclosing quickly around the campus. The wind was a warning of the oncoming rain.  
  
"Why is Relena the Rose Bride?" he continued his question, as he sat down next to Quatre. Quatre stared at him for a moment, before turning away and looking up at the darkening sky, pondering his answer. Good question.  
  
"You know, Duo, I really don't know," he replied. Duo nodded, leaning back in the white bench and also turning his gaze up to the sky. A little rose petal flew up to Duo, landing perfectly on his nose. Quatre glanced over at the boy, a grin spreading across his face. Duo looked down at the rose petal, causing his eyes to cross. Quatre laughed quietly, watching the violet eyed boy. Another slight gust of wind caused the tiny rose petal to flee from Duo's nose and up into the sky, before performing a few twists, and then was tossed over the edge of the pillar and down to the silent campus in session below. Duo rubbed his nose quickly as Quatre grinned.  
  
"How did you get here?" the youth asked. Duo sighed and slumped back in the white bench, returning his gaze back up to the gray sky. Oh yeah, and there was that other question of how he arrived there in the first place. Once again, Duo himself didn't know the answer.  
  
"I . . . don't know that either," he answered, looking back at Quatre with an apologetic grin. Quatre returned the grin and nodded slightly.  
  
"Do you remember anything before you came here? I heard from Noin that you were found in a creek nearby," he reached over and took a hold of one of Duo's wrists, pulling back his sleeve to reveal a fleshly made scar, "with slit wrists," he concluded. Duo lifted his wrist from him and looked at it in amazement. Quickly, he lifted up his other sleeve to look at the other wrist. Just as the last one, it also had a freshly made scar, cut in a perfect diagonal line pointing upwards towards the thumb, showing that both wounds were intentional.  
  
"Strange . . . I didn't do these," Duo commented, still looking at both wrists. Quatre's lips pouted vaguely.  
  
"When you removed your bandages, you should've noticed them," he replied. Duo looked at the Arabian and raised an eyebrow.  
  
"How did you know I had bandages?" he asked. At that, Quatre grinned and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.  
  
"That day Trowa and Wufei were sparring, I saw you from the balcony," he replied, looking down at his feet. Duo sat up straight and felt his facial features extend into a grin.  
  
"You noticed me, eh?" he asked. Quatre nodded slowly, still looking downwards. Duo slumped back into the bench, folding his arms behind his head.  
  
"Nice to know," he said, quietly to himself. Quatre tilted his head to face him.  
  
"What?" he asked. Duo smirked to himself and shook his head. Quatre stared at him for a moment longer, before turning his attention back to the ground.  
  
"So, as I asked before, do you remember anything before you came here?" he repeated. Duo looked up at the clouds and thought for a moment. Should he tell him that he came from a different reality? No, that'd sound too bizarre. Already so many peculiar things had happened to the pilot from L2, and he didn't wish to burden Quatre with his unbelievable tales.  
  
"Well," he began. What exactly was he going to say? He could go ahead and say that he had amnesia, but he suspected it'd only make him suspicious to Quatre. The 'different reality' story was out. He could really picture himself telling Quatre, 'Oh yeah, I pilot a large mobile suit in this other universe, where things are real; unlike here were the school system is messed up and the people are obsessed with roses and students literally fight for a girl.' Smooth. It'd go real smooth, sarcastically speaking.  
  
"I only remember . . . being really upset; wanting to kill myself," he began. At that, Quatre sat up, his eyes widened at the braided boy.  
  
"Kill yourself?! Why?" he asked, astonished. Duo stopped himself from laughing. He appreciated how much Quatre cared, but he really couldn't tell the petite blonde about how much he wanted him and how much he hated Trowa.  
  
"There's something that I want; only one thing I desire. . . Only its way out of my grasp, and I guess I just couldn't accept that," he answered, slouching back into the white bench again. Quatre turned his body towards him, bending his leg and resting his foot on the bench, wrapping both arms around the appendage. His cheek rested against his knee, as he looked straight into Duo's violet eyes; into the portals of his soul.  
  
"I believe that anything in the world is achievable, as long as you set your sights towards it. Nothing's impossible, but how long would you go for that one item? How much would you risk yourself for your desire? The more you wish for it, the stronger your will would be for accomplishment," the smaller boy answered, turning his gaze to the seemingly endless fields of red roses.  
  
"Of course, that desire for that item can bring out the best in us, yet the worst in us. How you plan to achieve what you want is up to you, as there is nothing I can do but support you for your decision. If I can help you in any way, I would, but only if it would not interfere in my journey for what I desire," continued Quatre. He watched as another wave of wind forwarded more small rose petals there way. Duo sat up straight, resting his elbows on his thighs.  
  
"And what are you reaching for?" he asked. At that, Quatre turned to him and smiled; a true smile that Duo thought he'd only seen him give Trowa.  
  
"Happiness, peace, tranquility, anything that would keep me in balance," he replied, still smiling. Duo couldn't help himself but smile back.  
  
"Haven't you already achieved those?" Duo asked. Quatre changed his glance to the ground quickly.  
  
"Perhaps I have, or perhaps I didn't. I've heard that you wouldn't truly know until you actually achieve it; then you'd know. . . Heh, sounds odd, but I believe that. It's nothing bluntly put so that you can see and touch it, but it'd be something you can feel in your heart; in your peace of mind. 'This is happiness; I'm finally living'," Quatre answered, his smile fading to that of a calm one. Duo leaned back in the bench one more, moving his hand to flick away a few strands of hair getting in his face.  
  
"Pretty deep, Q," he replied. Quatre turned his gaze up to him, his expression seeming lost.  
  
"Really? I've . . . Never shared that with anyone, to tell you the truth," he replied, his cheeks holding the faintest hint of blush.  
  
"Not even Trowa?" asked Duo. Suddenly, he mentally kicked himself for asking that so bluntly. Quatre shook his head slightly, bringing his leg back down to the ground and leaning back against the white bench.  
  
"Not even Trowa," he repeated, casting his gaze back onto the field of roses. Duo also looked at the roses. The wind was beginning to fade, as not that many rose petals as before were fluttering about. Somehow, Duo felt so corrupted, sitting next to someone so innocent; so pure. Compared to Quatre's goals, Duo's were completely selfish. All he wanted was Quatre in his arms, returning his love to him, and here was Quatre himself, aiming only to be happy. 'That should be everyone's goal,' Duo thought. Perhaps it was everyone's goal, but everyone had their own ways of achieving it. Would the braided pilot be truly happy if Quatre were to return his love? What about Trowa? He wasn't even considering the feelings of the tall brunette. Perhaps he loved Quatre just as much as Duo; possibly even more. That thought alone made Duo feel incredibly filthy; not physically, but in his state of mind.  
  
"Quatre, mind if I ask you somethin' personal?" asked Duo, keeping his gaze to the roses. Quatre turned his head slightly to glance at the other boy, before shaking his head ever so slightly.  
  
"I don't mind," he replied. Duo sighed deeply.  
  
"How do you know its love? How do you know when that one person is just for you?"  
  
Quatre instantly locked his eyes back to Duo, whose eyes were still occupied with the field of roses. He didn't expect that question, to be honest. Duo swallowed nervously, watching a single rose petal in a school of a faint hundred leap from the rose bushes, into the air for a brief dance, then back down to its origins. The wind didn't carry it over the edge as it did to the others.  
  
"Love. . . You know its love when you feel it, I suppose," Quatre paused for a moment, attempting to find the right words to express his ideas in, "I . . . really don't know how to answer. I'd figure it's just like happiness; you just know it when you feel it," he finished. 'Odd', thought Duo, 'the way it sounds, he hasn't found love yet. . .'  
  
"I'm sorry. I wish I could answer better," Quatre added quickly. At that, Duo sat up straight and turned to face the blonde, meeting him with an assertive smile.  
  
"It's all right. Who does know the answer these days?" he asked. After a brief second of silence, both boys erupted into a fit of laughter. Who -did- know love these days?  
  
Interrupting his laughter, Duo felt a small sprinkle on his forehead. He stopped and looked up, only to meet with another, and then another, and then another. Soon, fresh water was raining very softly upon the two boys, slowly beginning to soak through their school uniforms. With a giggle, Quatre stood up and held out a hand to Duo.  
  
"Come on! You don't want to get sick now, do you?" he asked, smiling. Duo took his hand and playfully tugged him down, forcing Quatre to take his seat again. With another light chuckle, Quatre looked up at Duo, who was still holding his hand.  
  
"Let's go! I don't want'cha getting sick," Duo said, imitating the Student Council member. Quatre smirked up at the boy, then yanked on his hand as he stood up, causing both boys to literally collide with each other. With their chests touching and hand still held in the other, Duo and Quatre stared straight into the other's eyes. They were so close, their noses brushed gently past, almost touching the other's cheek. Duo felt Quatre's light breathes on his skin, as did Quatre feel Duo's. They stood in that position for a second, when suddenly, just as Quatre turned his head to take a step back. . .  
  
They kissed.  
  
Neither boy moved; they seemed immobile at the moment. Their lips were pressed against each other and their chests still in contact. They were so close; Duo could feel Quatre's rapid heartbeat against his. He wanted to move, wanted to deepen the kiss, but he wouldn't know what Quatre would do. Would he push him away, or would he actually follow along? Only one way to find out.  
  
Just as he felt the slightest hint of Quatre pulling away, Duo quickly pressed himself against the pale boy, tilting his head slightly at the contact. He felt Quatre tense up underneath him and his hand squeeze Duo's lightly. Did he want him to let go?  
  
With that thought, Duo slowly took a step back, and then pulled his lips from Quatre's. They both stood in silence, staring at each other while the rain continued to pour down onto their bodies. He saw Quatre's eyes looking about frantically upon his features; perhaps searching for an excuse. Their hands weren't even separated yet. With that knowledge, Duo lifted Quatre's hand in his and held it closely to his chest.  
  
"Duo, I-I'm sorry," Quatre began, his voice barely above a whisper. Duo smiled softly at him, clasping his other hand over Quatre's.  
  
"Don't be; accidents happen," he replied. Quatre nodded slowly, turning his gaze down to their hands. His cheeks were a bright pink, and his hand was awfully warm in Duo's.  
  
"Well," Quatre started, just as Duo lifted his hand from theirs, yet still holding onto it, "we'd better be going; we'll both catch colds at his rate," he concluded, his smile returning to his face. Duo nodded in agreement, then took a couple of steps towards the entrance, pulling Quatre's arm along. Surprisingly, the latter's body didn't budge. Duo stopped and turned to face him, a questionable expression on his face. He tugged lightly at his arm. Finally, Quatre tore his gaze from the ground and to Duo, the smile suddenly faded.  
  
"Duo . . . You won't . . . Tell Trowa about this, right?"  
  
There was a deep sinking feeling in Duo's chest as his smile froze. His heart suddenly felt an intense burn. Quatre forced a slight smile.  
  
"Sorry. I shouldn't have-"  
  
"No, I understand. You belong . . . to Trowa," Duo said, feeling his throat being to tighten. Quatre took a couple of steps up to him, lifting his hand up to gently grasp Duo's shoulder.  
  
"Duo, I'm sorry. I do belong to Trowa," he said. Duo felt that sharp pain in his heart again. Quickly, he turned his gaze away.  
  
"But that doesn't mean forever."  
  
Duo shot Quatre a baffled gaze. Quatre merely smiled back and took a couple of steps in front of him, still holding onto his hand.  
  
"Let's forget what just happened. We need to get out of the rain, right?" he said, tugging at Duo's hand. Duo stared back at him, unknowing of how to respond to his words. 'Quatre, I can't forget.'  
  
"Y-Yeah, let's go," Duo said. He looked up at the blonde and forced a grin, as they both began to make their way out of the rose garden and back to the campus.  
  
~*~  
  
"I don't want to die . . . I don't want to die . . ."  
  
"Dear sister, some sacrifices have to be made."  
  
"Please no . . . I don't want to die . . . I want to live!"  
  
"Relena, it's not up to me whether or not you live or die. That's up to the Duelist."  
  
"I don't want to die . . ."  
  
"You want peace, don't you? You want this world to cease to exist, don't you? That's why you wished to be the Rose Bride in the first place. Out of all the Duelists here, only Duo Maxwell seems to have a chance at this dream of ours."  
  
"I don't want to die . . ."  
  
"It's all for peace, sister. It's all for peace. . ."  
  
"Peace . . ."  
  
"Now, go do as you're told. Soon, we'll all be free from this illusion; free from this game!"  
  
"Peace . . . Freedom . . ."  
  
"Good girl . . ."  
  
"For Peace, some sacrifices have to be made . . . It's not right . . ."  
  
"Of course it isn't. Yet, you chose to become the Rose Bride."  
  
"Because I want Peace. I want to be . . ."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I want to be free . . ." 


	10. The Black Rose Confusion

((I do not own Gundam Wing or Shoujo Kakumei Utena, blah blah blah. I apologize once again for the belated update. I'm just plain lazy . . . e.e))  
  
"The Black Rose Confusion"  
  
The rain refused to cease as Duo and Quatre arrived back down to the campus. School was now out of session, which meant that the campus was filled with students about rushing back to their dorms. Gradually, the rain had grown heavier; thunder was heard faintly. Searching for cover from the rain, Duo and Quatre headed for the main academy building, hastening inside. Once inside the building, Duo leaned against a nearby wall and took his braid in hand, twisting it and squeezing lightly to run out the excess water that occupied it. Quatre folded his arms over his chest quickly as he stood next to Duo against the wall.  
  
"Hey Quat, you all right?" asked Duo, looking up to the blonde. Quatre shivered and shook his head, grinning.  
  
"I'm fine, Duo. Thanks for asking," he replied. Duo stood up and released his braid, casually tossing it back behind him as he placed his hands inside his pockets.  
  
"OK," he answered. The rain outside refused to slow down, even for a moment. Now, it looked as if hail was accompanying the freezing droplets of water. It was heard and gradually grew louder as it hit the roof of the main academy building. Inside the building itself, it seemed as if to increase its cooler temperature, also. Of course, it could've just been Duo's hair having an effect of drying on him, but Quatre didn't appear so comfortable, either. The halls of the building appeared empty, as even the classrooms seemed deserted. Perhaps, just as the bell rang and the rain increased its power, the teachers also left to their homes as quickly as possible. It seemed strange, though. The two boys beside the door seemed to be the building's only occupants . . .  
  
Abruptly, Quatre sneezed. He wrapped his arms tighter around himself as he leaned against the wall more so, gradually falling to his knees. Duo quickly followed him.  
  
"You sure you're gonna be OK?" the braided boy asked. Quatre nodded and forced a smile.  
  
"Just a little cold. Don't worry about it," he said, still smiling. Duo adjusted himself onto the floor, sitting on his knees as he rose up from the wall. He began to unbutton his school jacket, shrugging off excess water as he did so. Quatre sat up, quickly.  
  
"Don't trouble yourself, Duo! I'll be just fine," he said, another sneeze following his statement. Duo smirked as he finished unbuttoning his jacket and slipped it off his dampened arms, holding the cloth out in front of him as he twisted it tightly, ringing out the rain from it.  
  
"Sure, you'll be fine. You'll just be in your dorm, sick with the flu or something, missing out on school, the Student Council, and whatnot," replied Duo as he untwisted his jacket and shook it out in front of him.  
  
"Really, I'll be just fine! Don't worry about me," the Arabian continued to plea. Duo rose up again and took the jacket by its shoulders, holding it up behind Quatre as he wrapped it around him tightly. No resistance came from the latter boy, much to Duo's surprise. Perhaps he was just pleading to be polite.  
  
"Keep it for a while. You need it more than I do, obviously," said Duo. Quatre, now caught in silence from the other boy's actions, nodded his head slowly, sending small droplets of water down from the tips of his golden hair.  
  
" . . . Duo . . ." he began, casting his gaze to the floor. Duo leaned back against the wall, bending one knee as he folded his bare arms behind his head, now only wearing his short sleeved, white school t-shirt.  
  
"Yeah?" asked Duo. Quatre kept his gaze to the floor, hugging the jacket around his torso a bit tighter.  
  
"Thank you," he finished. Duo felt a smile appear on his face.  
  
"No problem," he replied.  
  
A few moments began to pass, and neither boy said a word to each other. The storm outside seemed to have cease at least a bit; to the point where the hail seemed to stop. Duo cast his gaze down to the floor, then to the glass door where both boys had entered. The campus was quiet; everyone must be inside their dorms. He looked to his left, towards Quatre, and saw that the boy was still shivering slightly. His arms were still wrapped tightly around him, as was Duo's school jacket. He looked very pale, even more so than he usually looked. Curious, Duo lifted his arms from behind him and reached out towards Quatre, placing a hand firmly on his shoulder. Even with the material over him, he could feel the shivers from the boy. Quatre gradually lifted his head and turned to Duo, forcing yet another smile.  
  
"I-I'll be fine," he managed to say, as if he had read Duo's mind. Duo removed his hand from him and placed both of them into his lap, glancing down at the floor again.  
  
"You don't look like it," replied Duo. Quatre shook his head quickly, due to his increasing shivers.  
  
"No, I'll be all right; really. It's my fault, anyways. I asked you to come for a walk with me," he replied. Duo felt himself chuckle lightly. Quatre always had a tendency to blame himself for whatever cause, even if it wasn't his fault. It wasn't quite a flaw, but Duo found it slightly amusing.  
  
Without another word, Duo sat up from the wall again and faced Quatre. The latter looked up at him questionably as Duo leaned towards him, and then drew his arms around him, pulling him away from the wall and against his torso. Quatre's eyes widened very slightly, as he attempted to stop his embarrassing shivers.  
  
"Duo, I-I'm fine, really . . ."  
  
"No you're not," Duo instantly replied, drawing one of his arms up Quatre's back and resting the palm of his hand against the back of his head. His hair felt near freezing. He pulled him closer as he forced the blonde boy to lean against his shoulder. Quatre easily obliged.  
  
". . . Thank you for your concern, Duo," he said. Duo felt himself smile.  
  
"No problem, Quat," he replied.  
  
As before, both boys sat there in silence. Gradually, the rain began to cease, as it was heard on the roof of the academy building again. Duo instantly noticed that Quatre's shivers halted, as both of them began to warm up from their venture earlier in the rain. Holding Quatre so close to him made Duo relax entirely, the heartbeat of the smaller boy's against him. He had his eyes closed and savored the moment for as long as possible . . .  
  
Suddenly, there were fast, faint footsteps behind them, followed by the opening and slamming of a door. Duo instantly shot up and looked behind him. A door leading to outside had just been shut. Whoever had just left abandoned Duo with a chance to see who it was. Quatre looked up slowly from his arms.  
  
"Who was that?" he asked, in a voice barely above a whisper. Without tearing his eyes from the door, Duo shook his head slowly.  
  
"I don't know. Didn't get a chance to see" he said as he steadily turned back to Quatre. The Student Council member shrugged slightly and leaned against Duo, once again.  
  
"Perhaps we should be going back to out dorms now. I'm all right," said Quatre, though he continued to lean against Duo.  
  
"You all right now?" asked the latter, arms still around Quatre. Quatre finally pulled back slowly, lifting his head up to him and smiling gently.  
  
"I've been all right, Duo. No need to worry about me; though I really appreciate it," he said, still smiling. Duo couldn't help but grin.  
  
"Liar," he replied. Just before Quatre could reply, the remaining lights inside the building suddenly flicked, then turned off. Both boys looked about themselves inside the building.  
  
"Maybe they're closing up the building?" Quatre suggested. Duo nodded and stood up, offering his hand down to the blonde.  
  
"Yeah, so now would be a good time to leave, right?" the brunette asked. Quatre nodded and took his hand, himself being pulled slowly to his feet.  
  
"Trowa must be wondering where I am," he said as he slowly removed Duo's jacket from around him. Duo's face faulted. Casually, Quatre held out his jacket back to him.  
  
"Thank you, Duo," he said. Duo quietly took his jacket and slipped it back on. It was warm. Quatre placed his hand onto the glass door handle and pushed gently, the door easing to his command and opening. The sound of the rain grew louder as both boys exit the building, shading under the building's shade.  
  
"Quatre, before we go, can I ask you something?" asked Duo. Quatre faced him and nodded. At that signal, Duo continued.  
  
"Do you think that . . . you could ever fall for me?"  
  
Quatre paused for a moment, folding his arms over his chest and casting his eyes to the ground. Duo felt his heart beat heavier with anticipation. Great, perhaps he shouldn't have been so blunt . . .  
  
"I love you!"  
  
Quatre's eyes shot up from the ground to Duo. Duo took a step back, clapping a hand over his mouth. Shit! Talk about being blunt . . .  
  
"Duo," Quatre began, reaching a hand out to the braided boy. Duo tore his eyes away and looked over to other parts of the Ohtori Academy. He felt Quatre's hand slowly wrap around his.  
  
"Duo, look at me," came Quatre's voice. Duo swallowed and unhurriedly turned to Quatre. The latter's expression seemed serious; determined . . .  
  
"I'll be honest. I love Trowa, but . . . I . . . If I," Quatre suddenly seemed nervous, ". . . If I don't watch myself, I'm going to find myself at your feet . . ."  
  
At that last statement, Quatre's hand slipped away as he turned his back to Duo.  
  
"I'll see you tomorrow at school, all right?" he said, before making a quick dash into the rain. Duo felt his throat tighten, standing in the entrance door's shade, dumbfounded.  
  
~*~  
  
"So the Rose Bride agreed?"  
  
"Yes, Noin."  
  
"Don't you feel any guilt at all? I mean, since she's your sister and all . . ."  
  
"No guilt; I just want this stopped before it gets out of hand."  
  
"What do you mean 'out of hand'?"  
  
"Well Noin, as you know, the Prince won't have any excuse other than what actually happens. The Rose Bride- my sister- has agreed with my plan and partake her destiny as the Rose Bride."  
  
"What about her life? Aren't you at least scared for her that she's going to die?"  
  
"She's going to be free, Noin. I want her to be free; I want all of us to be free . . ."  
  
~*~  
  
The rain had slowed to a stop. Duo arrived at the East Hall dormitory, where he and Relena reside. The dark clouds still hovered above the campus, making twilight come quickly. Slowly, Duo placed his hand onto the door knob, when suddenly, he felt a hand upon his shoulder, yanking him around to face away from the door. Soon, he was face-to-face with an angry Wufei.  
  
"Maxwell, why are you so late?" he asked. Confused, Duo shook his head.  
  
"I just got back!" he replied, that being the quickest answer he could muster. Wufei growled and pushed him back against the door, moving his hand up to his neck and squeezing tightly.  
  
"I saw you, Maxwell. You were with Quatre, weren't you?" he asked. Duo grunted and placed his hands upon Wufei's wrist, tightening his fingers around it.  
  
"Where are you . . . getting at?" Duo asked, finally gathering enough strength to push away Wufei. The Chinese narrowed his eyes dangerously as he took a couple of steps back.  
  
"I challenge you, Maxwell, to a Duel," he said, his voice low. Duo's eyes grew in surprise.  
  
"What?!" he shouted. Wufei turned his back to him and began to walk away, slowly.  
  
"Tomorrow before class; meet me at the dueling grounds," said the onyx haired boy, waving a hand behind him idly to the confused Duo. Suddenly, there was a click, and the door behind him opened with a creak. Duo spun around and met Relena.  
  
"'Lena," he began, when Relena placed both her hands upon his shoulders and literally yanked him into the dormitory, the door closing slowly behind him.  
  
"'Lena, what are you doing?" asked Duo, when unexpectedly, Relena pressed her body against his and placed her lips over his. He grunted lightly in surprise, and quickly pushed her back.  
  
"Relena, what's this for?!" he asked, startled. Relena threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. By reaction, Duo placed his arms in front of him and pushed her back again, then took a firm grip upon her arms, to prevent her from doing anything else.  
  
"What are you doing?!" he asked the Rose Bride. Relena looked up at him into his eyes, her own full of tears that suddenly dripped down her cheeks. Duo raised an eyebrow.  
  
". . . Kill me, Lord Duo," she said in a whisper. 


	11. Mystery of the Rose Bride

((I do not own Gundam Wing or Shoujo Kakumei Utena, blah blah blah))  
  
"Mystery of the Rose Bride"  
  
/". . . Kill me, Lord Duo," she said in a whisper/  
  
Duo held a firm grip onto Relena's shoulders, as the latter was pushed heavily against the wall. The dim moonlight peeking through from the departing rain clouds began to show its way through the un-curtained windows in the hall of the East dormitory building, where Duo and Relena lived together, alone.  
  
"Kill . . . you?" Duo asked, slightly stunned at the Rose Bride's words. Relena nodded slowly, her tears suddenly falling from their entrapments down her cheeks, sluggishly. Quickly, Relena lifted a hand from her side and rested the palm of it against Duo's heart.  
  
"You want to be free, don't you? Free from this world- this hell, without him?" she asked, never taking her eyes off of his. Startled, Duo took a step back, removing both his hands from either side of her and causing her to remove her hand from his chest. Her eyes of a light blue hue seemed to shimmer brightly in the faint moon light peeking through the windows, giving her a slightly eerie look.  
  
"Without . . . him?" Duo asked, dumbly. Relena nodded her head slowly, bringing a hand up to tuck some stray strands of hair behind her ear.  
  
"Without Quatre," she continued. At his name, Duo took another step back.  
  
"If you want to be with him, Lord Duo, kill me," she continued, lifting herself up from the wall and slowly making her way towards him. Carefully, Duo took another few steps backwards, until he felt his heel hit the back of the door he entered in. Coming to a quick stop, he held out his hands in front of him, also causing Relena to stop in her tracks.  
  
"Look, 'Lena, I'd have no problem killin' ya' if I didn't know you. . . . But y'see, I know you; know who you are, what you stand for, who you're important too! I can't bring myself to kill anyone with that sort of knowledge," Duo said, quickly. Relena stared at him with an icy stare.  
  
"You don't know me, Lord Duo. I'm just a mindless puppet; here to perform the biddings of my master. Nobody knows me; nobody's supposed to know . . ."  
  
Suddenly, Relena lunged at him, placing her hands firmly at his shoulders and pushing him against the wall roughly. Her face only inches away from Duo's, she stared fiercely into his eyes.  
  
"Kill . . . me . . ." she said, with a hint of desperation in her voice. Duo gazed back into the empty ocean of her soul, her eyes, and shook his head quickly, placing his hands at her elbows and forced her to release him.  
  
"No!" he replied, prying her off of him and pushing her back. With a stumble, Relena grabbed onto a small table behind her, and then quickly whipped around, her seemingly delicate features of her face tampered into a growl.  
  
"'Lena, how did you know 'bout Quatre?" asked Duo, taking a step towards her. Relena whisked her head around and grabbed onto the thick, wooden rail of the stairs, her footsteps making light poundings as she quickly retreated to their dorm. Either Relena had decided to ignore Duo, or she was being mysterious in her answer; as she tended to be.  
  
"'Lena?" Duo asked again, hoping to catch the other girl's attention. Instead, Relena opened the door to their dorm and took a step back, holding the door open for him.  
  
"You first, Lord Duo," she said. Duo stared at her momentarily in the hallway's moonlight. Even though her back was towards the nearest source of light, he could still see her pale blue eyes; it looked as if they were glowing once again; teasing him with the mystery they kept behind their master's soul.  
  
Shaking his head quickly, Duo shook his head and took the door handle from Relena, holding it open for her instead.  
  
"Women first," he said, a slight smile playing at his lips. Relena looked up at him, somewhat baffled. She looked into the dorm room, then back up at him, as if asking him permission to proceed first. Duo nodded at her, as if reading her thoughts, and then quickly, Relena entered the dorm room.  
  
Silently following, Duo closed the door behind him. He watched as Relena slowly walked across the room, looking as if she were gliding. She walked up to the kitchen table, where they ate, and pulled up Duo's book bag. She held it out to him.  
  
"I picked up your homework, Lord Duo," she said. Duo nodded to her, stepping up to grab his book bag. Just as he did, Relena quickly reached behind her and grabbed a couple of papers, holding them out to him.  
  
"These are the answers to your homework, Lord Duo," she said. Duo's eyes widened slightly in surprise.  
  
"Answers?" he asked, taking the papers and looking over them. Surely, there were the answers to the homework he had for the day. Relena nodded, sitting in a chair at the table.  
  
"Are you hungry, Lord Duo? I could make you a snack if you wish," she said. Duo quickly shook his head, still somewhat bewildered at the answers to his homework. Wasn't this cheating? Well, of course, it made it all the easier.  
  
"Don't trouble yourself, 'Lena. I'm fine," he said, taking a seat across from her. Relena nodded slowly, crossing her legs and delicately placing her tiny hands into her lap.  
  
"Hey 'Lena, what happens during a Duel?" ask the braided pilot, bluntly. Relena quickly cast her attention to him.  
  
"What do you mean, Lord Duo?" she asked. Duo held out his hand and looked at his black Rose Seal.  
  
"Wufei challenged me to a Duel just a while ago," he stated.  
  
"It's simple. Arrive at the dueling grounds, the same place as you did when you defeated Heero, and from there-," she began.  
  
"No, no! I meant, what do -I- do, since I'm . . . y'know, the victor of the last Duel," he corrected himself. Relena turned her head slowly and stared at Duo with those glowing eyes of hers. For a moment, she said nothing; her entire body sat still, her hands calmly in her lap.  
  
"You take nothing with you, Lord Duo. No sword, as you did that last time. As the scared ritual of the Duel begins, I shall guide you on what to do before you begin," she said. Duo nodded, slowly.  
  
"Wufei said tomorrow, before class," he said. Relena nodded, turned her gaze to the window. There were no lights on in the dorm room, so the faint moonlight peeking through the rain clouds was the only source of light. It could have just been his eyes playing tricks on him, but Duo saw a faint smile spread onto Relena's lips.  
  
"'Lena?" he asked. Relena took another moment gazing outside, before turning back to Duo. "Yes, Lord Duo?"  
  
"Are you lonely?" he asked, directly. He saw that smile was for sure upon Relena's face, as she slowly turned back to the window.  
  
"No, I'm not, Lord Duo," she said. Duo tilted his head slightly.  
  
"Do you have any family, or anything?" he asked, hoping to at least pry into some of her mysterious life.  
  
"Yes. I have an older brother; one that I love very much, Lord Duo," she said, the smile never ceasing to fade. Duo felt himself grin. He never had any blood relatives, or at least that he knew of. Of course, there was Father Maxwell and Sister Helen, but they've been gone for years. They shaped Duo into who he was now; it was Duo's duty to remain that way.  
  
"I'm going to bed," said Duo, as he slowly stood up from his chair. Relena turned to him and nodded slowly.  
  
"Do you need anything before you rest, Lord Duo?" she asked. Duo shook his head, wearily. He was surprised at how tired he was; the day wasn't all -that- eventful.  
  
"Naw, I'm fine, 'Lena. 'Night," he said, sluggishly making a beeline to his room. Relena kept silent, even as the door closed behind Duo. She lifted her hand to her heart, clutching it through the fabrics of her uniform, tightly.  
  
***  
  
No dreams came to Duo that night. No visit from Treize; much to his relief. He kind of minded, having a dead man visit him in his dreams, telling him to kill the Rose Bride Relena.  
  
It felt as if he were suddenly jerked out of unconsciousness; the way he found himself suddenly woken up without any assistance from Relena or the alarm clock. With a deep yawn, he rolled onto his side and looked at the wall in front of him. A plain, blue painted wall with almost nothing on it; except for the Victorian style vines at either side of it. Turning his head upwards, Duo saw that the sun decided to show its face today. The curtains were closed, and the dorm room was strangely silent. He wondered if he woke up before Relena did that morning.  
  
With that thought, Duo leaned over the top bunk of the bunk bed, peering onto the one below him. The bed was already made neatly; with nobody sleeping in it. 'Strange, where did Relena go?' Duo asked himself, slowly climbing off the top bunk.  
  
He opened the bedroom door and peered about the rest of the dorm. The open living room, nobody. The open kitchen, nobody. At the table, Duo found his breakfast, covered in a plastic wrap, ready to be warmed up. That, he knew, must have been Relena's doing. He even looked over towards the door where they both kept their book bags, and still yet, found nothing. Her book bag was still there.  
  
Walking across the tiny hallway, Duo leaned against the bathroom door. The light was off. He lifted a hand and knocked gently at the door. No answer. Then he placed his hand on the handle and opened it, immediately turning on the light switch next to the door. The bathroom was clean, yet showed signs that someone was in there, not too long ago. Duo reached out towards Relena's pink towel; it was still damp. It seemed that Relena had gotten ready and left the dorm room for some reason. Great, Duo had a Duel that morning and Relena was nowhere to be found.  
  
~*~  
  
"Where's Quatre?" asked Wufei, walking into the Student Council room. Heero, Trowa, and Dorothy sat at the table, sipping their morning tea. There was a fresh hot cup waiting for Wufei at his seat.  
  
"He's sick today," said Trowa, in a low voice. Wufei took his seat and picked up the tea cup, carefully blowing it off.  
  
"What happened?" asked the Chinese boy. Trowa set down his tea cup and sat back, a sigh escaping him tiredly.  
  
"Minor cold. He should be back on his feet tomorrow," he replied. At that, Heero also set down his tea cup.  
  
"A cold? Was he outside or something?" he asked, looking at the tall brunette. Dorothy kept her lips at the rim of the tea cup, her eyes locked onto Trowa in curiosity.  
  
"Appears so. I remember him taking Duo for another walk yesterday. I think they were out a little later then supposed to be," he said, his eyes gazing down at his half empty tea cup. Heero shrugged. He saw Quatre and Duo enter the Rose Garden, but had left soon after. Suddenly, Wufei set down his tea cup and chuckled lightly.  
  
"Taking Duo out for a walk? You make it sound as if he were walking a dog, Trowa," he said. Trowa tore his eyes from the small cup to Wufei's ebony eyes.  
  
"I'm sorry; I didn't mean it that way! I know Duo's new to everything, but I don't mean to be rude," he said, correcting himself. Dorothy closed her eyes as she set down her tea cup, an annoyed sigh escaping.  
  
"He doesn't deserve the Rose Bride," she said, her voice cold and harsh. Wufei nodded in agreement.  
  
"What's with the change of attitude, Chang? I thought you supported the new Duelist?" Trowa asked. At that, Wufei smirked and picked up his tea cup again.  
  
"I don't recall ever saying that, Barton. But for the most part, I have a Duel with him this morning," he said, taking another sip of the warm tea. Heero's eyes suddenly shot him an angry glare.  
  
"And what are you going to Duel him for, may I ask?" Trowa questioned. Setting his tea cup down once again, Wufei looked up at a sudden flock of white doves flying overhead. He kept his eyes on them for a brief moment longer, before scooting back his chair and standing up slowly.  
  
"I have my reasons," he replied. Trowa exhaled and took his tea cup again. Turning away, Wufei placed his hand at the door handle.  
  
"Now, if the Student Council will excuse me, I have a Duel to attend to," he said, opening one of the heavy doors before him and allowing himself to leave the balcony, gradually becoming covered in the morning sun. The rain clouds from yesterday had pretty much cleared out, except for a very few thin remaining clouds in the vast horizon. They, like some people, were unimportant and left out in the distance. 


	12. The Blue Rose

((I do not own Gundam Wing or Shoujo Kakumei Utena, blah blah blah))  
  
"The Blue Rose"  
  
Much to his surprise, Duo received no surprising pounce or tackle from Hilde that morning. In fact, she was nowhere in sight. Relena had also left no traces of her whereabouts, leaving Duo to leave the main campus to the dueling grounds on his own. Just as she instructed, he took nothing with him, leaving his book bag and other school-related items inside the dormitory; only wearing his school uniform and black Rose Seal that refuses to be removed from his finger.  
  
Stepping up to the familiar, gigantic aqua colored stone gate that bore an even bigger stone rose above it, Duo hesitantly placed his hand onto the long door handle. 'Last time, it practically opened by itself,' he thought to himself. Suddenly, as if by cue, Duo felt a tiny, cold tingle on his ring finger; exactly where he bore his Rose Seal. That set off a chain of events. The small fountains behind him set off as if imitating waterfalls, the two large, aqua colored doors opened, leading to a gigantic, spiral stairway, and as soon as he entered, the two giant doors closed behind him; just as it had before in his first Duel.  
  
With a light sigh, Duo began making his way up the marble, spiral steps. He remembered that last time he climbed up those steps, he thought it would take forever; judging by how many there were and how tall the spiral was. Of course, that was his misjudgment; he soon made it up those steps in no time. As he expected, it was the same way this time as it was last.  
  
As he reached the top of the spiral, Duo saw Wufei standing in the middle of the area, a katana sword drawn. Not too far from him was Relena, who was wearing her long, pink and white dress and hugged her slim figure, until it reached to her hips, where a big, light pink skirt hid her legs from the slim, opened dress. In either hand, she held a rose; the one held in her right was a black rose in full bloom, while in her other, she bore a light blue rose, also in full bloom, which she was currently setting in Wufei's chest pocket. As Duo stepped onto the platform, she turned and greeted him with an expressionless smile, quickly turning towards him with the black rose in hand.  
  
"The Rose that takes flight . . . From World's End . . . A gift- for you."  
  
Walking up to Duo, she closed her eyes. Waving her right arm in front of him, there was a glow at Duo's chest, particularly over his heart. That glow warmed him, both in and externally. Surprisingly, it was bright; really bright. Duo didn't realize it, but he closed his eyes from the bright glow brought on by Relena.  
  
Almost as quickly as it came, the warm glow was gone. Reopening his eyes, Duo looked down at himself. Instantly, he noticed his change of attire- he was no longer in his school uniform! Instead, he wore white slacks with white shoes, accompanied by a deep violet, long sleeved coat, with golden buttons, that cut off just above his waist. Underneath his violet coat was a black garment that ran down his back and narrowed into two at the back of his knees. Reaching behind him, he also noticed that . . . his hair came out of its confined braid and was now hanging loosely down his back.  
  
Finally, Relena placed the black rose into his chest pocket. He couldn't help but stare down at his attire in astonishment; every bit fit him so perfectly. Taking a step back, Relena placed both her hands before her chest, closing her eyes once again.  
  
"Sword of the Rose," she began, "the power of Dios that sleeps within me, answer to your master," at that, Duo looked up at her, "and show yourself . . . Now!"  
  
Relena's chest began to glow brightly, as just then, she began to lean backwards, arching her back. Quickly responding, Duo reached out in front of him and caught her easily, his arm wrapping around her slim waist. The further she leaned back, the brighter her chest began to glow. Finally, it was so bright once again, Duo could barely see. He had his other arm shielding his eyes. 'Shit! What did Heero do that last time? I couldn't see . . .'  
  
Just then, the handle of a sword came out of the glow from Relena's chest. As if by reaction, Duo's hand instantly caught hold of the handle, and then slowly began to draw back. The glowing reflected off the shimmering blade of the sword, causing the brightness to increase. Finally, the entire sword had left Relena's body, leaving her temporarily limp in Duo's arm. Drawing up the sword to the sky as it jerked out of her, Duo felt the words come to him automatically, "The Power to Revolutionize the World!"  
  
Wufei brought his katana up to his face, holding the flat of the blade against his palm, "Grant my sword power . . ."  
  
Finally, Relena stood up from Duo's arms, backing away slowly as Wufei took position, holding his sword out with both hands. Duo took the Sword of Dios and held it out with one arm, his near-nothing skills of swordsmanship at a disadvantage.  
  
Instantly, Wufei was in Duo's face, his katana being shielded from Duo's rose by the sword from Relena. Duo grunted and attempted to shove away Wufei, but the Chinese was much too powerful. He applied more pressure onto his katana, causing the braided boy to take a couple of steps back.  
  
"Why . . . Are we dueling anyways?" Duo managed to ask, before Wufei turned his katana upwards, barely missing Duo by an inch. With a forced stumble, Duo regained his posture quickly and stood holding his sword out once again.  
  
"I saw you with Quatre yesterday, Maxwell!" he proclaimed, before charging at Duo again. By reaction, Duo jumped backwards and slashed his sword downwards at Wufei's chest, missing the light blue rose by centimeters.  
  
"What's it to you?" he asked, just as Wufei brought his sword to his face, the blade leaning against his skin. His eyes grew wide in anticipation as he froze, not wanting to move. Wufei leaned close to him, his eyes narrowed dangerously.  
  
"Quatre's mine."  
  
~*~  
  
"Watching another Duel I see, Zechs."  
  
"Of course, Noin. This one seems rather interesting; it's the boy's first time using the Sword of Dios."  
  
"How is he holding up thus far?"  
  
"I wouldn't say greatly, but he still processes his rose."  
  
"Ah, I see."  
  
"Who's his opponent?"  
  
"Chang Wufei; secretary of the Student Council."  
  
"Wufei's really good at defense. Will Duo be able to defeat him?"  
  
"I've heard that he was able to defeat him in practice. Of course, this is the real thing, and Wufei's going to give it all he's got."  
  
"Yes. Besides, Duo processes the Sword of Dios. This is going to be rather exciting. Do you have another pair of binoculars at the moment?"  
  
"Yes, over there on the table, Noin."  
  
"Thank you, Zechs."  
  
~*~  
  
Duo brought his knee up and jammed it up into Wufei's stomach. With a pained grunt, Wufei forced himself back, quickly recollecting himself and holding his sword out in front of him again.  
  
"But Quatre belongs to Trowa!" Duo exclaimed, just as Wufei charged at him again. Quickly bringing the handle of his sword to his knee, Duo was able to prevent a powerful blow from the Chinese. It caused him to stumble back yet again.  
  
"Of course he does!" Wufei withdrew his sword and continued, "At this rate, Maxwell, you're going to tear apart their relationship! I love Quatre. I only want him to be happy, even if it -is- without me. But you," he said, thrusting his sword straight at Duo's rose, "are just fucking selfish!"  
  
By reaction once again, Duo lifted the handle of his sword, clumsily evading his opponent's attack. He caught a smirk upon Wufei's face as the latter boy easily blocked another attack from Duo's knee with his elbow. The braided student bit his lower lip as he forced himself to stagger backwards once again.  
  
Relena watched the two at the far corner of the area, both her hands placed eagerly in front of her lap, her fingers intertwined with each other. She looked upwards at the giant castle hovering above them like an enormous chandelier. A speck of light seemed to be floating downwards towards the two duelists . . .  
  
Wufei once again thrust his sword at the American, missing his black rose by mere millimeters. The only way Duo was able to dodge his last blow was to force himself to fall onto the ground. Just as he did, Wufei stood above him and raises his katana, aiming at his rose . . .  
  
~*~  
  
"Zechs! What's that?!"  
  
"I . . . don't know! I've never seen such a thing!"  
  
"It's a human figure, coming from the Castle of Dios!"  
  
"Could it be . . .?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Dios himself?!"  
  
~*~  
  
Just before Wufei could bring down his katana, a humanly figure cloaked in light ghostly sank down and engulfed its form around Duo's. The same feeling as when Relena waved the black rose over his body overwhelmed him; that same, warm feeling. Gradually, he stood up from where he had stumbled, Wufei's eyes grown in surprise and frozen in his pose. Every movement Duo made, a light shadow followed him gracefully. Even as he aimed his sword at Wufei, thrust his body forward, and allowed the glowing blade to slice the blue rose clean off of the Student Council member's chest, causing light blue rose petals to flutter about both Duelists. Wufei, too stunned to move a muscle, stood in place, as large bells were heard beyond the spiral platform, signaling that the Duel had been won.  
  
~*~  
  
"Zechs . . . Did you see that?"  
  
"Every second of it, Noin . . ."  
  
"The sight . . . It was amazing!"  
  
"It was Dios, Noin . . ."  
  
"What does that mean, Zechs?"  
  
"That young Duelist, Maxwell Duo, is the one."  
  
~*~  
  
Wufei finally blinked and shook his head, casting his gaze downwards. His light blue rose was no more, and in its place were the fluttering rose petals, falling to the ground as light as feathers. Duo stood straight, and then looked about himself quickly, noticing that the warm feeling had left him. Suddenly, he noticed the light blue rose petals and a startled Wufei . . . That meant . . . He won the Duel!  
  
Relena strode up to Duo and took his hand into hers, stroking over it lightly.  
  
"Are you all right, Lord Duo?" she asked, her pale eyes smiling up at him. Wufei bit his lip and growled. Abruptly, his grip upon his katana tightened severely as he whipped around and quickly walked out of the arena, leaving the light blue rose petals behind. Duo glanced at the angered Chinese, then back to Relena and grinned, somewhat.  
  
"I'm fine, 'Lena. You?" he asked. Relena nodded, her golden tiara glimmering in the light of the castle above them.  
  
"Yes. Thank you for asking, Lord Duo," she said. Just then, Duo took her hand, and led her towards the entrance of the spiral stairway, leaving them from the dueling grounds.  
  
~*~  
  
"So where's the Rose Bride, Chang?" asked Heero calmly, playing a game of poker with Trowa, Dorothy, and a quickly recovered Quatre. They all sat at the white painted, round table atop the Student Council balcony hovering above the campus. With each member was a cup of tea, as usual. Wufei growled and walked over to the edge of the balcony, folding his arms and leaning over it slightly.  
  
"I didn't win," he muttered out, bitterly.  
  
Quatre glanced up from the game, "He defeated you?" he asked. He had been informed by Trowa about Wufei and Duo's sudden Duel.  
  
"If he didn't, I'd have the Rose Bride with me right now, wouldn't I?" asked Wufei, his voice sour with sarcasm. Quatre paused, before sighing lightly and paying his attention back to the game.  
  
"What happened?" asked Trowa, not lifting his eyes from the deck of cards in front of him.  
  
"Something came down from the Castle of Dios," he muttered. At that, all four who were playing cast their gazes to the upset boy leaning on the balcony. The silence urged him to continue.  
  
"While we were Dueling, a figure in light came down and . . . looked like it entered Maxwell's body somehow. They . . . merged into one, or something. I wasn't able to read his moves; he was so fast after that," he said, making a tight, white knuckled fist. Heero turned his attention back to his deck.  
  
"It was Dios, wasn't it?" he asked. Instantly, Quatre turned to him.  
  
"How would you know, Heero?" he asked. Heero, paying no heed to the blonde, set down his cards.  
  
"Royal flush." 


	13. The White Rose

((I do not own Gundam Wing or Shoujo Kakumei Utena, blah blah blah))  
  
"The White Rose"  
  
Lunch seemed to roll around the corner quicker then Duo could have imagined. Soon, he and Relena were outside the main academy building, sitting in the stands beside a baseball field, wearing their appointed school uniforms. Students almost cluttered about the stands, either having their lunch or enjoying the company of their friends. The clouds cleared the campus sky completely, leaving the exposed sun to shine down its rays upon the dampened earth. Though the clouds had dispersed, there was a slight gust of wind breezing about through the Ohtori Academy, with it carrying hundreds of beautifully scented red roses.  
  
Once again, Relena had made lunch for both of them. Just as before, it was a couple of simple sandwiches, but Duo wasn't going to be picky. He still knew almost nothing about Relena, nor did he know anything about her position as the Rose Bride. Every now and then, he managed to cast a glimpse over to her direction, but she either didn't catch the glimpse, or made no recognition of it. They continued to eat their lunch in silence, much to Duo's surprise about his own silence. He knew that whatever he'd say, Relena would just agree with him, and if he asked her a question, she'd only answer with a confusing riddle, or not answer at all.  
  
Just as Duo raised his already half eaten sandwich to his face once more, he noticed a tall, platinum blonde man, dresses in crimson red slacks and the same color shaded vest, over a long sleeved, ivory shirt that looked as if to be made of silk. The man was also accompanied by a group of giggling schoolgirls not too far behind him. He was walking up to Duo and Relena, his long hair shielding his face. Only until he stepped closer to the two, Duo didn't have an idea who the man was . . .  
  
"Excuse me, Mr. Maxwell . . ."  
  
Duo gawked up at the man, his sandwich still in his hands. Relena slowly turned upwards, her eyes suddenly glowing with life as she smiled, widely.  
  
"My name is Zechs Merquise; chairman of Ohtori Academy. May I have a word with you?" he asked, politely. The group of giggling girls behind them held their breaths long enough for him to introduce himself, before the crowd became even louder. Zechs held out his hand to Duo, as Relena began to pack up their once again unfinished lunch. Duo looked up at the tall blonde, to his hand, then over to the group of giggling girls. He saw one of them wave at him. Hilde!  
  
"Don't mind them," Zechs said, following Duo's eye sight to behind him. Duo shook his head, and then hesitantly took Zechs' hand, the latter pulling Duo up from the ground and shaking his hand firmly.  
  
"You're a Duelist, aren't you?" he asked, and then looked down at Duo's hand. A smirk appeared on his face as he released it.  
  
"Excuse me, a Black Rose Duelist," he corrected himself. Just then, Relena stood up after having packed their lunches once again. She smiled at Zechs.  
  
"Good afternoon, brother," she said. Zechs looked to his sister, and then bowed politely.  
  
"Good afternoon to you too, dear sister," he replied. Duo glanced back and forth at the siblings, and then folded his arms over his chest.  
  
"So what do we needa talk about?" he asked, bluntly. Zechs looked down at him, smiling slyly.  
  
"Oh, here wouldn't be the best place to talk, young Duelist. Place, accompany me to my office. The Rose Bride may return to class," he said, nodding to Relena. Duo stared at the two, dumbfounded. They were siblings, and yet, Zechs referred to Relena as the Rose bride, as did Heero?  
  
"I'll be awaiting you after school, Lord Duo," said Relena, bowing politely to Duo, then turning around and began to make her way down the stands. The group of girls behind Zechs turned and began whispering to each other as Relena walked on past. If looks could kill, Relena would've died instantly because of Hilde.  
  
"Uh, all right?" replied Duo to Zechs, after the information of going to his office settled into his mind. Zechs nodded and grinned at him, then waved an arm towards himself as he turned down to the stands.  
  
"This way, Mr. Maxwell," he said. Duo watched him walk downwards a couple of steps, before finally deciding to follow the older man. The group of giggling girls watched Duo steadily, whispering back and forth to each other once again, Hilde's voice amongst them.  
  
~*~  
  
"What's the matter, Quatre? You feel ill, again?"  
  
Quatre shook his head slowly, staring downwards at the campus below the Student Council balcony. He was leaning against the white marble balcony, his arms folded beneath him, with his chin lying in his arms. Trowa wrapped an arm around him and leaned against him.  
  
"What's the matter, little one?" he asked, concerned. Quatre continued to watch the array of students, before shaking his head slowly, a small sigh escaping him.  
  
"Just . . . thinking," he replied, dully. Trowa looked down towards the baseball fields and raises an eyebrow.  
  
"Isn't that chairman Zechs Merquise?" he asked, barely recognizing the faint figure. Quatre nodded slowly.  
  
"Strange. I wonder what he's doing down at the campus? He's hardly ever around the academy at all, to my knowledge," the brunette said. Quatre nodded again slowly, in dull agreement. Trowa pulled him closer, turning his head slightly to nuzzle against the blonde.  
  
"What's on your mind, Quat?" he asked. Quatre sighed lightly, closing his eyes.  
  
"Trowa, what do you think of Duo?" he asked, straightforwardly. Trowa quickly drew back and looked down at him, just as Quatre turned his head slowly to meet by eye contact.  
  
"What do you mean?" he asked. Quatre's face broke out into an apologetic smile.  
  
"I think he's a really good person; one capable of taking care of the Rose Bride," he turned back down to the campus below, "I think the Student Council should leave him alone. He has no harmful intentions for the Rose Bride, unlike Heero."  
  
Trowa watched his boyfriend for a moment, before casting his gaze down onto the campus below. A slight gust of wind blew a few red rose petals across the balcony, bringing their scent with them. Above, a trail of white doves also flew along with the rose petals.  
  
"If that's what you believe, Quatre, then it must be true," Trowa concluded, a somewhat sorrowful look in his eyes. Quatre turned around to face him once again, and saw that look. Quickly, he pulled him into an embrace.  
  
"What's wrong, love?" he asked the taller boy. Trowa forced a smile and shook his head.  
  
"It's nothing, Quatre. I'm only concerned for your own well being," he said. 'And worried that I may not be able to watch over you any longer', he finished inside his head. Quatre leaned his head against Trowa's chest.  
  
"I love you, Trowa," he said. Trowa smiled, weakly.  
  
"I love you too, Quatre."  
  
~*~  
  
Duo followed Zechs to a lone building that stood, overlooking the entire campus. Directly across from it was the Student Council building, and in between the two was the academy itself. What looked like to the far left of the Student Council building was the dueling grounds, and to the right of the Student Council building was the Rose Garden, from which thousands upon thousands of red rose petals were dancing about the platform.  
  
"This way, Mr. Maxwell," said Zechs, holding open a door with a key. They lost the group of giggling schoolgirls back at the main campus, much to Duo's relief. Taking Zechs' lead, Duo followed him into the ivory colored, aged building.  
  
As they walked into the building, Duo's heart felt as if it skipped a beat. In front of him stood one, lone chair, and next to it, a reception desk. It was the exact setting as in his dream! As he and Zechs walked to the right of the empty reception desk, Duo looked behind him. There stood a small hallway with the elevator at the end. There were no chairs standing parallel to each other, and there was a big, white sign hanging over the elevator that said, 'OUT OF ORDER'.  
  
"This way, Mr. Maxwell," repeated Zechs, further down the hallway. Duo shook his head from the all too familiar scene and turned down the hallway, towards Zechs. The older blonde was now standing inside a small doorway, which instead were a flight of stairs. Without question, he followed Zechs up the lonely stairs.  
  
"So where's this office of yours?" Duo asked, attempting to make some kind of conversation to break the silence. Zechs chuckled lightly.  
  
"Not too far, Mr. Maxwell. From there, one can overlook the entire campus if he desired," he said. Duo nodded to himself, looking about the stairs as they continued to climb. If it hadn't been for the occasional pass of a dim light bulb, the staircase would be engulfed in darkness.  
  
A couple of minutes passed, when the two reached Zechs' preferred level. He turned and took out a set of keys, which jingled loudly as he fumbled with them. Finding the correct one, he inserted it into the keyhole and turned slightly, a loud 'click' being heard from his direction. With a twist of the door knob, the door opened smoothly. Gesturing at Duo to follow him, Zechs lead him into his office.  
  
'Observatory' would have been a more correct name for Zech's 'office'. It was an enormous room, the ceiling rounded and very high above them. In the very center of the room was a large telescope, aiming towards the sky, though the ceiling was closed at the moment. Not too far from the telescope were two small couches, covered in a scarlet velvet material. In between the two couches was a small coffee table, of in which a clear vase stood, with quite a number of red roses in full bloom stood. Behind one of the couches was a desk, perfectly clean in an organized manner. Tall, church-like windows stood about the office, covered by very large, light scarlet colored drapes.  
  
"This . . . is your office?" Duo asked, amazed. Zechs nodded, and then closed the door behind them.  
  
"Yes. Quite amazing, isn't it? It's even more amazing at night time, when one could see the vastness of space from the center of these walls," he replied, another 'clicking' sound coming from the door as he locked it. At the sound, Duo immediately whipped his head around. Zechs saw his action and chuckled lightly.  
  
"No need to worry, Mr. Maxwell. I have a habit of locking my doors; it's a pet peeve of mine to have someone enter before knocking," he said, walking up to his desk and placing the set of keys inside a drawer, "it's rather rude. Please, have a seat, Mr. Maxwell."  
  
Duo looked over to one of the couches, and then sat himself down in one of them. He looked about the rather large, spacious office.  
  
"Would you care for some tea, Mr. Maxwell?" asked Zechs, browsing around his desk for a moment longer. Duo shook his head, leaning back against the rather comfortable piece of furniture.  
  
"No thanks. Call me Duo, by the way," he replied. Zechs finished up with his desk and walked over to the couch opposite of Duo. He sat down, and then leaned back, facing the smaller boy in front of him.  
  
"You look much better than from the time I found you in the creek, Duo," he began, studying Duo carefully. Duo looked down at himself, then at his wrists. He bore two large, healing scabs.  
  
"Uh . . . thanks," he said.  
  
"How are those sliced wrists doing?" asked the older man, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Duo took one of his hands and grasped it lightly over his wrist.  
  
"Just fine, thank you," he retorted. Zechs smirked, then leaned forward, resting his elbows upon his knees and interlocking his fingers, resting his chin upon his hands.  
  
"So tell me, Duo, how is your stay at the Ohtori Academy? Students treating you correctly?" he asked. Duo nodded his head slowly, releasing his wrist and placing both hands into his lap. He felt as though he should attempt to act proper, or something of that sort.  
  
"I'm glad to hear that. Ohtori Academy has the lowest fight rate in the country," Zechs stated, looking at Duo intensely in the eyes. Duo's eyes widened slightly. Did Zechs know about the Duels? Or was he just playing at something?  
  
"Y-yeah," Duo replied, not really knowing what else to respond with. Zechs leaned back again, stretching his arms outward.  
  
"So how goes the Dueling, Duo?" he asked, almost sounding like a hypocrite compared to his last statement. Duo quickly cast his gaze to the carpeted floor.  
  
"Um . . . It's going well?" he replied.  
  
"Ah, good to hear. I was afraid that the Rose Bride wasn't doing your bidding, or you were having another conflict of some sort," the blonde man said, casually leaning back into the couch. Duo slowly cast his confused gaze upwards. Relena was his sister, right? Why was he still referring to her as the Rose Bride and not his sister? Didn't he care for her well being, at all?  
  
"Aren't you and 'Lena sibs?" asked Duo, bluntly. Zechs raised an eyebrow at such a direct question. There ensured a brief moment of silence, before Zechs threw his head back and laughed. Duo blinked in confusion. What did he say that was so funny?  
  
Suddenly, a phone on Zechs' desk rang. Getting up quickly, Zechs walked over to his desk and pressed the speaker phone button.  
  
"Yes?" he asked.  
  
"Zechs, you're needed at the main board's office."  
  
"Thank you, Noin. I'll be there soon," he replied, and with that, the phone was hung up. He then looked over at Duo.  
  
"It was nice having a brief talk with you, Duo. I hope you continue to enjoy yourself at the Ohtori Academy," he said, reaching into one of the doors in his desk and taking out the ring of keys from before. Duo stood up from the couch as Zechs began to walk towards the door they entered from.  
  
"If you have any questions, don't hesitate to find my office, or you could always leave a note at the reception desk," he said, as he opened the door for them both. Duo could only nod and follow him, for Zechs kept talking about the academy; disallowing himself to ask any more questions. What was worse was he was only talking about assignments, getting homework done, etc.  
  
"Once again, it was nice chatting with you, Duo," said Zechs as he lead Duo out the front door, quickly closing the door behind him.  
  
'Now why the hell did he avoid my question?' Duo thought to himself. 


	14. The Pink Rose Blooms

((I do not own Gundam Wing or Shoujo Kakumei Utena, blah blah blah. I apologize once again for the belated update. . . I swear, whatever muse I had decided to desert me . . . *tragic sigh*))  
  
"The Pink Rose Blooms"  
  
The day ended without hesitation. The sun had set and the sky was overcome with a deep, royal blue hue covered in shimmering stars. Though the rest of the academy had closed for both the students and teachers, the tall Student Council building remained open to its few occupants. Simply leaning against the marble balcony once again, Quatre was staring up at the endless space; the silent sounds of night uplifting a serene mood.  
  
Looking to his left, to the far east side of the academy, he saw the almost abandoned East Dormitory building. All the lights were off, except for one, dim light in the far corner of the building. Quatre knew that that's where Duo's dorm must be. He heard that he and the Rose Bride Relena had obtained an entire dormitory to themselves; how or why it was set up this way he didn't know. He didn't even know who set Duo up to live alone in the dormitory building.  
  
'I love you!'  
  
Duo's words echoed in Quatre's mind as he stared at the lone dorm light in the distance. He met Duo not too long ago; what would cause him to fall in love so quickly? He and Trowa had known each other for months when they finally discovered their feelings for each other. He hadn't known Duo for more than a month. Something was edging at him, in the back of his mind, telling him that he did know Duo before hand. If he met duo before, how come he didn't remember him? He never saw him prior to his arrival at the academy, nor had he seen him anywhere else. Perhaps they met years ago and he just faded from his memory? Of course not. Had that been the case, Quatre would've identified him without conflict.  
  
But why, whenever he's look into those amethyst eyes, did he feel like he knew him? Somewhere in his state of conscious, Duo looked familiar, sounded familiar, felt familiar. He knew he wasn't just imagining things, either. He began to wonder if any of the other Student Council members had the same feelings as he, concerning the recognition of Duo prior to his attending Ohtori Academy.  
  
"Still up?"  
  
Quatre lazily lifted his head up and glanced behind himself. Trowa grinned and walked up to him, standing beside him on the large balcony overlooking the campus. Quatre said nothing to recognize his lover's presence, but instead drew his attention back to Duo's dormitory. Trowa folded his arms over the balcony and glanced at Quatre's face, then cast his gaze to wherever he was looking.  
  
"What are you looking at?"  
  
"The scenery," Quatre said. Trowa nodded, then unfolded his arms and stood up from the railing. He turned his back to the scenery and leaned back against the marble rail, looking up at the stained glass of the Student Council building. Neither boy said anything to each other for a while. The quietness of the air began to weigh heavily on them, even more so then the chilled breeze.  
  
"Are you all right, Quatre?"  
  
Quatre kept his eyes on the dormitory, regardless of Trowa's words of concern. Trowa turned his head to look down at the boy, then repeated himself, "Quatre, are you all right? Is something wrong?"  
  
The blonde boy released a long sigh, and then buried his face in his arms. Trowa stood up from the rail and faced him, soon wrapping an arm around him. He didn't know what was wrong; Quatre seemed distant; like he was looking for something from far away . . . Perhaps for something Trowa could never acquire for him.  
  
"I'm all right, Trowa . . ." replied Quatre, weakly. Trowa scooped Quatre up into his arms and held him closely, occasionally running his hand through Quatre's soft, blonde hair.  
  
"Are you sure? You seemed . . . troubled," he said. Quatre sighed again, and then buried his face into Trowa's chest, wrapping his arms around the taller boy, tightly, as if clinging to him for life.  
  
"Tell me, what's wrong, love?" Trowa asked, his voice soft and soothing. There was another light breeze that picked up, with it its usual crowd of hundreds of red rose petals which carried their sweet scent with them wherever they left to. Quatre pulled himself away from Trowa to gaze at the passing by rose petals, a weak smile forming on his lips.  
  
"The roses really are beautiful, aren't they? I wonder how many people at this academy truly appreciate them. The Rose Bride does a wonderful job growing and tending to them, doesn't she? I don't think many people really know how much she is doing; the sacrifices she makes . . ."  
  
Trowa felt a small knot forming in his throat. 'He's drifting away . . . I won't be able to watch him any longer,' he thought to himself. Quatre continued to watch the rose petals scatter about the night scenery.  
  
"I wonder how she feels, the Rose Bride. She's treated so poorly; like an object. She gets little to no respect here in the academy. The students treat her as an outcast, while the Student Council treats her merely as a tool. She's more then that; she has to be. No human being should be treated in such a way . . ."  
  
Finally, Quatre turned and met Trowa's gaze with an innocent glimmer in his eyes.  
  
"Duo's the only one that sees her differently, right?"  
  
Trowa shook his head slightly, causing his hair to fall about over one eye; something he usually did when trying to avoid something. Quatre's feelings were out of his grasp; he never owned him, yet it hurt to know that his feelings had changed.  
  
"I wouldn't know. I don't know Duo on a level like you do, Quat," he replied, in a dull tone of voice. Quatre's face faulted slightly, and then he turned his gaze back to Duo's dorm.  
  
"See that small, lone building way out there? The one with the single light on? That's where Duo and the Rose Bride are. I wonder what they're doing right now . . . He must treat her nicely; like a person, unlike what the rest of the Council does," he said, his tone of voice turning bitter at the mentioning of the Student Council. Trowa looked at the shadow of the building.  
  
"Do you dislike the Council, little one?" he asked the blonde. Quatre sighed, and then leaned his elbows on the rail, resting his chin on one hand.  
  
"At times, though I've sworn m loyalty to it. Besides, the Student Council president doesn't listen to me most of the time, anyways . . . Why can't the Council be more civilized? They act as if-"  
  
"You're forgetting; there are only four members. You, the President, Wufei, and me. Are you saying that I'm as barbaric as the other two?" Trowa asked, in a calm tone of voice. Quatre's eyes widened. Quickly, he whipped his head around to face Trowa.  
  
"No! I didn't mean it like that!" he said. Trowa shook his head sadly, folding his arms over his chest.  
  
"I'm staring to lose you, little one. I don't want to lose you; I want to keep you, all to myself, as if you were the Rose Bride. Of course, you aren't. You are a human being, just as you said the Rose Bride herself is. The path you chose for your life is the one that you alone can choose; I have no right to altar it."  
  
"Trowa . . ."  
  
"You're in love with Duo, aren't you?"  
  
Quatre's eyes widened, significantly. Trowa, with his arms still folded over his chest, faced him and calmly awaited his answer. The breeze was now dying down, with it taking the rose petals; leaving them scattered all over the surface of the Student Council balcony. Quatre was, bluntly started, speechless.  
  
"It's all right if you are, or not. I'd just appreciate it if you let me know. Whatever your decision may be though, little one, please know that I will always love you; whether we're friends, or lovers," said Trowa, seeing how Quatre seemed to have lost his voice. Quatre slowly looked down at the floor of the balcony. The red rose petals made it look like the balcony floor was scattered in blood. It made the appearance all more gruesome in areas where large clutters of red rose petals lay.  
  
"Trowa, I . . ."  
  
There were tears running down Quatre's face.  
  
"Quatre . . . Don't feel bad. Those feelings are yours and yours alone. Those around you will just have to accept them," replied the brunette. By now, it was obvious that he was choking out his words. No matter what, he would not allow his tears to fall free. He didn't wish to show any sort of weakness of letting Quatre go in front of him.  
  
". . . Thank you, Trowa," he answered, his voice barely above a whisper. Trowa forced down a large lump growing in his throat.  
  
"Do you know of Duo's feelings, if he has any? I don't want to leave you to someone who has none. . ."  
  
"Oh, he does, Trowa . . . He does," Quatre said, lifting his eyes from the ground momentarily to look at Trowa. Trowa offered a weak smile, as Quatre walked towards him slowly, a hand outstretched.  
  
"Don't cry, Trowa . . ."  
  
Trowa lifted a hand to his cheek, and surely, there were tears.  
  
"Don't worry about me, Quatre . . . You have . . . someone else to worry . . . about . . ."  
  
Quatre stopped in front of Trowa. The latter boy still forced that smile upon his face.  
  
"I'll continue to watch over you, little one," he said, faintly. Quatre nodded slowly, his chest burdened with an extra weight that he couldn't seem to get rid of.  
  
"Thank you, so much Trowa . . ."  
  
"You're welcome, Quatre . . ."  
  
Inside the Student council building, past the stained glass of roses tall enough to fit a church, Dorothy stood. She had one arm hanging loosely at her side, the other wrapped across her stomach. The moonlight reflected off her tears.  
  
((A/N: This chapter was a bit shorter compared to any of the other chapters . . . I'm sorry! ;-; I'll make the next one longer! Promise!)) 


	15. The Rose Garden

((I do not own Gundam Wing or Shoujo Kakumei Utena, or any songs from the two, blah blah blah))  
  
"The Rose Garden"  
  
". . . and then he goes and DODGES my question, replacing it with all this shit about keeping up my grades, or joining a club, or being courteous to other students!" said Duo as he walked into the open kitchen, all the lights inside the dorm on. Relena sat at the couch near the door, leaning over a small coffee table, playing a game of cards by herself.  
  
"Oh really, Lord Duo?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the deck. Duo nodded and opened the fridge.  
  
"Yeah! I mean, he interrupts our lunch, has us followed by all those fan girls of his, drags me way the hell out there to his 'office', only to get about a couple of questions in! I mean, what kinda guy doesn't even take his time to answer any of YOUR questions?! Not only that, he laughed! The son-of-a-bitch laughed without answering my question!" he said, frantically digging about the opened fridge. Relena continued to play her game of cards, not lifting her eyes from the deck for an instant.  
  
"I'm sorry, Lord Duo," she said, placing down a card. Duo grabbed a soda can from the fridge and continued ranting.  
  
"Stupid Zechs . . . Acting like he's some kinda big shot about campus . . . He's probably no better then the damn jocks around here, huh?! Sure, he has great looks an all, but dammit, looks can be deceiving! I don't care if he's a part of that big ol' school board or whatever! The dumb bastard has no manners whatsoever! Hell, I'm bettin' that even Heero has more courtesy then he does!"  
  
"I'm sure he does, Lord Duo," said Relena in her calm monotone, picking up the cards and beginning to deal them again. Duo closed the refrigerator door and leaned against it.  
  
"Freakin' idiot . . . Thinks he's all high and mighty and whatno-" mid sentence, Duo began choking on the soda. He coughed twice, leaned against the wall near the fridge, coughed again, and then took a deep breath.  
  
"Are you all right, Lord Duo?" asked Relena, still in that monotone. Duo coughed again, and then nodded.  
  
". . . 'Lena, where and when did you get soda for the fridge?" he asked, coming back to his senses. Relena laid the cards out on the coffee table for a game of solitaire.  
  
"I got them today while you were out with my brother," she said. Duo sighed and shook his head slowly.  
  
"Did you hear a word I said?" he asked. Relena flipped over a few cards on the table.  
  
"Every word of it, Lord Duo. I'm sorry to hear that my big brother wasn't treating you very nicely," she said, calmly. Duo walked out from the kitchen and made his way into the small living room. He sat down beside her on the sofa and leaned back, looking up at the ceiling.  
  
"It's OK, I guess," he said, as Relena continued to shift about her cards. The clock on the wall ticked loudly with every second. Looking in front of himself, Duo noticed that the dining room window was open. Lazily, he stood up to close it. Just as he stood up though, there was a light knock at the door.  
  
"Odd, who could that be?" Relena muttered to herself, still not taking her eyes off of the deck of cards in front of her. Instead of making his way over to the dining room window, Duo walked over to the entrance door and opened it slowly.  
  
"Quatre? What are you doing here?" he asked. At that, Relena lifted her gaze from her game of solitaire and looked to the door. Quatre stood behind it, looking at Duo with an apologetic smile.  
  
"I'm sorry; are you two busy?" he asked. Duo quickly shook his head, opening the door all the way.  
  
"No, actually. What brings you here?" he asked, allowing Quatre to step into the dorm. Relena stood up from the couch and bows politely to Quatre.  
  
"Good evening, Quatre," she said. Quatre grinned and nodded to her.  
  
"Good evening, Miss Relena," he said, turning to Duo, who was still attempting to figure out why Quatre decided to show up at their dorm so late in the evening. Quatre merely grinned at the confused boy.  
  
"Duo, I thought about what you said to me the other day," he said, his grin as wide as ever. Duo's eyes grew slightly. Relena looked back and forth between the two boys, obviously knowing that she missed something between them.  
  
"You mean . . . what I said about . . ." Duo said, talking without really knowing about what he was going to say. Quatre continued to grin at him, and then lifted a finger, placing it gently upon Duo's lips to silence him. Duo obeyed immediately.  
  
"Why don't we take a walk, Duo?" asked Quatre, motioning towards the door. Duo looked at the clock on the wall, which seemed to be ticking so loudly earlier, which read about 22:00 hours. He then looked back at Quatre, silently asking him if he was serious about taking a walk outside this late. Quatre merely nodded, as if he read the American's mind. He looked back at Relena, as if asking for approval. She smiled at the both of them.  
  
"Will you be heading towards the Rose Garden?" she asked Quatre. The latter nodded.  
  
"I forgot to water the roses earlier today when I went out for groceries after school. Would you mind watering them for me, Quatre?" she asked, her voice oddly sweet. Quatre nodded, politely, and then turned back to Duo.  
  
"Shall we?" he asked. Duo nodded, somewhat baffled at the situation. He looked back to Relena.  
  
"I'll be here if you need anything, Lord Duo," she said as she bowed. Duo nodded quickly, as Relena soon closed the door behind the pair. Quatre took Duo's hand in his and began walking down the stairs.  
  
"Uh, Quat? Why are we-?"  
  
"Taking a walk out so late, Duo? Remember, the very first time I took you up to the Rose Garden, I told you about the castle in the sky? About how it looks at night? Well, now I want to show you, from the Rose Garden's view," he said, looking back at Duo and smiling. Duo felt his cheeks grow warm. Quatre was actually going to -show- him the castle in the sky at night? Why would he suddenly decide on that?  
  
"What about Trowa?" Duo asked, bluntly. At that, Quatre grew silent for a moment. They both reached the bottom of the stairs and were now exiting the East Dormitory Building.  
  
"I'll . . . I'll return to that subject," Quatre promised, turning around quickly to flash Duo another brief smile. The braided boy stopped himself just in time; preventing himself from walking into Quatre. With a quick nod, Quatre turned back around and continued to walk towards the Rose Garden.  
  
"So how have you and Miss Relena been doing, 'Lord' Duo?" he asked, a hint of teasing in his voice. Duo couldn't help but smile. He looked up at the sky as they continued to walk; bits of red rose petals making their way about them.  
  
"Things are good. I don't see why Heero treated her badly; she's not a bad person. True, she does get a bit annoying at times, but hey, it's Relena," he said, smirking. Quatre turned and nodded to him, the grin still on his face. Duo didn't think he caught what he was referring to; he was talking about the Relena of the 'real' world. He really didn't expect him to remember, or know anything about it, but he couldn't resist stating that comment, none the less.  
  
"I'm glad to hear that. I heard that you had a meeting with Chairmen Zechs Merquise earlier today. How did that go?" he asked, curiosity in his voice as he watched Duo, steadily. Duo continued to look up at the sky, but then casually folded his arms behind his head.  
  
"It was bad," Quatre frowned, "things didn't turn out all too well. Well, I mean, the meeting went OK, but when -I- tried to ask him a question, he dodged it!" Quatre smirked, "Besides that, he started talking about all kinds of other stuff, like grades, clubs, other students . . . stuff like that, just to avoid my question. Kinda pissed me off . . ." he muttered. Quatre couldn't help but chuckle lightly.  
  
"Chairmen Zechs does have a habit of doing that . . . He's done that to the Student council several times," he said. Duo turned to him and unfolded his arms.  
  
"So he's done it a few times before, huh?" he asked as they neared the stairway up to the Rose Garden. Quatre nodded, slowly.  
  
"Unfortunately, yes. It really gets on Heero's and Wufei's nerves, since they like to get right to the point," he said, as they both began to walk up the steps to the Rose Garden. As they walked, Duo looked over at the empty academy buildings. They looked like lone churches, out in the middle of a field, secluded with its own trees and buildings . . . Looking a bit farther, he could see the faint outline of a river, glistening brightly in the faint moon light. So, that's where Zechs must have found him . . .  
  
Looking ahead of the two, Duo found them at the top of the pillar. The moon stood to his far left, looking as if it had increased its mass at the top of the pillar; shining down upon the thousands upon thousands of roses in the garden. Quatre took a couple of steps ahead of him, remembering Relena's request to water the roses. Duo stood behind and folded his arms calmly over his chest, looking about the silent roses as they continued to shine silently underneath the silver moonlight.  
  
Just as he looked back to Quatre, the boy was kneeling down beside what looked like a very large water pipe; by the looks of it, he was having a struggle with it. Unfolding his arms, Duo made his way over towards the blonde, trying to see what he was struggling with.  
  
"What's wrong? Need help?" he asked as he approached him. Without looking back at him, Quatre continued to struggle with the water pipe.  
  
"The hose- it won't come off," he said, with a light grunt. Duo kneeled down beside him and saw what Quatre was struggling with- the hose to water the flowers with was stuck beneath the large water pipe. Leisurely, he placed his hands over Quatre's and assisted him. They both pulled placed their feet firmly in the ground and pulled at the water hose; then finally, they both were sent falling onto their backs in a couple of rose bushes. As Duo lay on his back, he felt a few water droplets land upon his cheek. Opening his eyes and looking upwards, he saw the water hose that he and Quatre were trying to free leap into the air, and then landing back on the ground with a light 'thud'. Quatre sat up quickly.  
  
"Oh . . . I guess I turned it on by accident before I actually got the thing out, huh?" he asked, half to himself. Duo quickly jumped to his feet and reached for the water hose, only to have it glide out of his grasp. He reached for it again, and it only slid out of his grasp once again. He then attempted to grab it with both hands, before the water hose shot itself into the air with the powerful jets of water emitting from it; sending roses everywhere. Just as he began to charge at it, Quatre stood up and placed a hand on Duo's shoulder, pulling him back slightly.  
  
"Forget about it; the only way we can get it is if we lower the water pressure," he said. Duo turned around quickly to face him.  
  
"And where do we do that?" he asked. Quatre looked over at the water hose, which has settled somewhere on the ground nearby and was causing a small flood where they stood, for roses were floating on the surface of the ground and were quickly making a large clearing; where there had been no rose bushes.  
  
"I don't know," the Arabian said, turning around to meet Duo with an innocent grin. Duo couldn't help but chuckle to himself.  
  
*This rose is our destiny. Hikisakare.  
*Futari no te wa. Hanarete-itta.  
  
"Then why even bother?" Duo suggested. Quatre smiled at him and nodded, slowly.  
  
"My point exactly, Duo. . ."  
  
*Nemuru toki mo.  
*Anata e no yume.  
  
Quatre suddenly wrapped both his arms around Duo's waist, pulling the braided boy closer. Duo blinked in surprise, but didn't resist in the slightest.  
  
*Idaki nagara.  
*Todoke! Sekai wo hate made~!  
  
"Quatre?" Duo asked, as Quatre pulled him so close, he rested his head upon Duo's chest. Standing there in confusion for a moment, it finally hit him- Quatre was standing there, in the middle of the Rose Garden, then his arms wrapped around him, pulling him closely . . . Getting the hint, Duo quickly engulfed Quatre in his embrace, one arm around his waist and the other up his arm to his shoulder. Flashing a smile at the brunette, Quatre removed one of his arms from around Duo and took his hand into his; the one that hand been on his shoulder.  
  
*Toki ni ai wa tsuyoku  
*Hito no kokoro wo kitsuzuke mo suru~  
  
Quatre laid his head on Duo's shoulder, grasping onto his hand tightly. Duo closed his eyes momentarily, and then noticed; they were slow dancing. Every time their feet touched the surface of the water-covered ground, there were tiny ripples in the water that sent the roses and their petals scattering away, back to their bushes.  
  
*Keredo, ahh~  
  
Water was beginning to pour down from the pillar, as were various roses and their petals. The moon light was glistening ever so bright in its reflection on the water. As Duo and Quatre continued to dance slowly in the Rose Garden, their reflections followed their every step, every word, and every expression. What the two didn't notice was the appearances of their reflections. Duo's was clothed in his Dueling outfit, complete with his hair, wavy from its braid, following gracefully with his movements. Quatre's reflection, on the other hand, was different.  
  
*Yume no atae yuuki naka ni  
*Itsumo hikari kagayaki hanatsu~  
  
Dancing with Duo's reflection was the appearance of Quatre, instead of wearing his Student Council uniform, was wearing a rather different suit. There was a sleeveless overcoat that ran down to his thighs, which was in a deep, mahogany color, accompanied by a white cloak with a shade of red. He wore slacks that were the same mahogany color down the outer side of the legs, though the rest was white. In a sense, the outfit would be similar to Relena's, had it been a dress.  
  
*Hitotsu no chikara ni~  
  
Of course, both Duelists had no idea that that was the mark of the future Rose Groom.  
  
*Toki ni ai wa tsuyoku  
*Hito no kokoro wo kizttsuke mo suru keredo ahh~  
  
Duo pulled apart form Quatre, holding him by the hand. Just as Quatre took a step away, a single, black rose that seemed to have fallen from the sky, landed inbetween the two; though ignored by both.  
  
*Yume no atae yuuki naka ni  
*Itsumo hikari kagayaite~  
  
In the reflections of the boys, the same rose had flown in-between them, though the rose was pink instead of black.  
  
*Ai wa tsuyoku  
*Hito no kokoro wo ugokashite yuku~  
  
More black roses began to fill the Rose Garden, as had the pink roses in the reflections, yet the two continued to dance together, unknowing of the symbolism that bonded them both.  
  
*Dakara ahh~  
  
Duo pulled Quatre back into his arms, and Quatre once again laid his head onto Duo's chest, lifting a delicate hand to rest upon the Black Rose Duelist's shoulder.  
  
*Futari de iru kitto sekai wo  
*Kaeru tame ni soshite subete wa~  
  
Quatre looked up at Duo and tugged lightly at his school jacket. Just as Duo looked back down at the blonde, the latter kissed the former.  
  
*Hitotsu no chikara ni.  
  
The blonde boy pulled back slowly, laying his head back down onto Duo's chest and whispered, "Duo, I love you. . ."  
  
*Naru.  
  
Duo stared down at him, speechless once again. He looked around them, at the red roses, then down at their reflections, which had not changed since they arrived.  
  
"I love you too, Quatre. . ."  
  
***  
  
A/N: OK, Here are the translations for said lyrics. Just a note that, at almost ALL the websites I went through, just about all the lyrics/translations were the same. O.o Really. Check it out yourself sometime. Anyways, because of that, I don't know who to give credit for the translation, since the same translation is almost everywhere on the web. Besides, I know a wee bit of Japanese myself, so yeah. I'm not taking credit of the lyrics, of course! But yeah. Anyways, here's the translation:  
  
*This rose is our destiny, ripping us apart. *Our hands have been torn apart...  
  
*Even when I sleep, *As I embrace my thoughts and dreams for you, *They reach to the ends of the world!  
  
*At times, love is strong, *So much it even wounds people's hearts, but ahh *In the midst of the courage that grants our dreams, *A light always shines forth, *[Forming] a single power...  
  
*At times, love is strong, *So much it even wounds people's hearts, but ahh *In the midst of the courage that grants our dreams, *A light always shines forth.  
  
*Love is strong, *So much so that it can move people's hearts, but ahh *If we are together, then without a doubt *We can change the world, and everything will *Become one power.  
  
I kept it the movie length because I didn't want to think up parts for the entire song. . . X_x Anyways, yeah. 


	16. The Red Rose

((I do not own Gundam Wing or Shoujo Kakumei Utena, blah blah blah. I forgot to include the actual -name- of the song in the last chapter [go figure]. Anyways, it's called 'Toki ni Ai wa', sung by Masami Okui [who has a -really- beautiful voice, might I add] from the Shoujo Kakumei Utena movie.))  
  
"The Red Rose"  
  
The next morning, as Duo and Relena began making their way towards the main campus of the Ohtori Academy, Duo found himself practically walking on air. He wore a grin on his face that possibly nothing in the world could wipe off at the moment. The meeting he had yesterday wasn't bothering him at all.  
  
"DU-OH~!!!"  
  
Before Duo had a chance to look behind himself, he felt a body jump onto his back, wrapping its arms around his shoulders and its legs around his waist.  
  
"Good morning, Hilde," replied Duo, abandoning his book bag to lock his arms underneath Hilde's legs for support. Relena kneeled down to retrieve his book bag.  
  
"Good morning, Duo!" she said in a cheerful answer, hugging Duo. Duo felt himself smirk as he continued to walk towards the main campus, the extra weight upon his back proving itself as no burden.  
  
"Duo," the short hair girl whispered, leaning towards Duo's ear, "Relena's still here. . ."  
  
"I know," Duo replied. Hilde lifted her head up to cast Relena a glance, only to have the Rose Bride return her glance with a pale smile. She stuck her tongue out at her and turned back to Duo.  
  
"Why won't she go away?" she asked, hugging Duo close to her again. Duo shrugged as he continued walking, passing by various on looking students.  
  
"She's my friend, and I don't treat friends that way," he said. Hilde sighed and stopped hugging him. She moved her legs, making Duo stop to let her down from his back. She removed her arms from around his shoulders and stepped up in front of him, straightening out her skirt.  
  
"Duo, would you . . ." she began, lifting a hand to her face as she suddenly looked down at the ground, "would you . . . have lunch with me today?"  
  
The American paused for a moment. What if Quatre had something in mind? He sort of doubted it, but the blonde did have a tendency to show up unexpected, at times. Not that Duo minded, of course.  
  
Before he had a chance to answer, Hilde looked up and behind him at Relena, then quickly added, "Without her?"  
  
Duo felt a knot grow in his throat as Hilde looked back up at him. He turned around slowly to face Relena, as the latter nodded her head and smiled, showing him without words that she approved. He felt pretty guilty, but . . .  
  
"Please Duo? I promise to bring a really good lunch," she said, her eyes big and pleading. Duo looked back again to Relena, then to Hilde, then to Relena again, then back to the girl in front of him. What a predicament . . .  
  
"Go and enjoy yourself, Lord Duo," said Relena, a weak smile upon her face. Duo turned back towards her, opening his mouth to say something, just as Hilde reached out and grabbed both his wrists, yanking him to turn towards her.  
  
"Great! Meet me underneath that great big willow tree beside the creek, the one surrounded by pink roses, to the east of the baseball stadium, okay?" she said, a big smile upon her face. Duo opened his mouth again to say something else, but Hilde released his hands and continued to smile at him.  
  
"I'm so glad you're coming; I'll be looking forward to it, Duo!" she exclaimed happily, turning away slowly and leaving him behind. Quickly, Duo whipped around to Relena. She held out his book bag for him and smiled.  
  
"Your book bag, Lord Duo," she said. The Duelist grabbed his book bag from her and turned back to the academy, walking in his thoughts.  
  
'Great, now what'll I do if Quatre wants to do something? What if I can't make it? What if I can't find it? Where will 'Lena be? Dammit 'Lena, why'd you have to go and say that?!' he asked himself. He cast another quick glance backwards to Relena, who was busy looking up at the giant pillow with the roses.  
  
"Lord Duo, did you and Quatre leave the water pipes running last night?" she asked. Duo unconsciously twitched at the question. Relena turned back towards him and smiled.  
  
"It doesn't matter," she replied, her smile hiding her satisfaction of revenge; setting him up with Hilde for leaving the roses.  
  
***  
  
Duo sat down in his first hour class, bored and twirling his pencil in between his fingers. Wufei, who was sitting across from him, had his nose buried in his book once again as usual, donning his reading glasses. Sally Po's voice dragged on, as she continued with the lecture while the rest of the students in class frantically wrote notes. He noticed that Wufei hadn't greeted him all morning, nor gave any indication that he noticed the American's presence at all. That, of course, didn't surprise Duo.  
  
His next two classes seemed to drag on as did the first; he -really- wanted to see Quatre. He wanted to ask him if that last night was a dream. It probably was. When he'd talk to Quatre again, Trowa would have his arm around him as usual, the image alone sending Duo away from the couple. But then again, what if it wasn't a dream? What if all that Duo had wanted finally came true? That would mean that Quatre belonged to him, not Trowa. It seemed too good to be reality; Duo's dream had come true much earlier then he expected . . . He wasn't complaining, of course.  
  
***  
  
The tables began to turn in Duo's fourth hour; his class right before lunch. As the lesson dragged on, Duo was suddenly called out of class. Reason being was announced that he had business with the Student Council. His hopes rising, thinking it was Quatre, he soon found himself face to face with Heero outside his classroom. So much for getting away from class with Quatre.  
  
"So why'd you call me outta class?" Duo asked as Heero began to lead him away from the classroom. The academy's halls were almost empty, except for the occasional student or teacher making their way through to their destinations. Heero had a stern look upon his face, as usual.  
  
"Hey, are you gonna answer me?" the braided boy asked, after receiving no answer from the mute council member. Both their footsteps echoed loudly in the silent hallway.  
  
"Heero, you there?" asked Duo, taking a couple of steps in front of the other boy and waving his hand over his face. Heero shot him a glare, shouting at him silently to stop his childish acts. Duo obviously didn't get the hint.  
  
"Heero, are you gonna answer me?" Duo asked, waving his hand over Heero's face again. Heero growled and shot the other boy another glare. Once again, Duo didn't take the hint.  
  
"Dammit, are you gonna be like this all day?" he asked, growing impatient. Stopping suddenly, Heero turned around and grabbed Duo by the shoulders, pushing him roughly against a door which instantly opened as the two boys fell inside, shutting itself soon after. Heero sat up on Duo, a fist clenched tightly at his neck.  
  
"Don't you EVER shut up?" Heero growled, tightening his grip on Duo's neck. Duo choked, then grabbed onto Heero's fist with both hands, squeezing it tightly in an attempt to lift the other boy's hand from him.  
  
"H-Heero," Duo choked out, his breaths becoming desperate for air. His hands tightened around Heero's arm, trying to pull him off. Heero looked down at the boy beneath him, a sudden, sadistic smirk forming its way onto his lips. He took his other hand and lightly trailed his fingertips down the side of Duo's face, his other not lightening up on the tight grip it had on Duo's neck.  
  
"I heard you were out late last night with one of the Student council members, Duo," he said, looking down into Duo's bright, violet eyes. Duo continued to struggle, turning his head away from his hand. Heero lowered his hand from Duo's face to his chest, sliding it downwards along his side, slowly.  
  
"Is that true?" he asked. Duo gasped loudly as Heero squeezed his hip tightly; his strives for air becoming more desperate. Heero seemed to be enjoying watching the other boy struggling beneath him. He lightened his grip on the other boy's neck, only enough to where he could breath.  
  
"Is it?" he asked, lowering his body down onto Duo's. He pressed his thigh heavily onto Duo's crotch, causing him to gasp once again; not for air. He smirked sadistically at his reaction.  
  
"Answer me, Duo," he commanded, pressing his thigh against him again. Duo gripped onto Heero's arm tightly, once again, attempting to push him away.  
  
"Stop it," he breathed, feeling Heero lower his face and brush against his neck. A sudden, sharp pinch on his skin caused him to turn his head away, wincing as Heero bit him.  
  
"You didn't answer me yet, Duo," he said, his tongue darting out and running along Duo's exposed neck. Duo shivered and continued his struggle.  
  
"Don't," he replied. Just then, the lunch bell rang loudly. Accompanied with the loud ringing, students were heard rushing out of their classrooms to their lunch, different voices heard just outside that door. Duo's heart began to beat faster. What if someone walked in?  
  
"Answer me, dammit," Heero growled, grinding his thigh against Duo heavily. Duo gasped loudly, then removed his hands from Heero's arm and relocated them to his chest, pushing him to get off of him. Heero quickly lifted up from Duo and grabbed his wrists, one in each hand, then lifted them above the braided boy's head and lowered himself back down. Duo bit his lip.  
  
"Well?" asked the Japanese boy, slowly beginning to kiss Duo's neck. Duo closed his eyes tightly and struggled once again, but stopped suddenly when Heero bit him again.  
  
"Y-yes," Duo gasped. Heero smirked yet again, brushing his lips against the other boy's skin.  
  
"Quatre, correct?" he asked. Duo nodded his head slowly, drawing in a quick intake of air as he felt Heero's hardened arousal brush against his hip.  
  
"That's what I thought . . . I knew Trowa wasn't acting like himself today . . . He must know," he said, slowly beginning to grind against him. Duo held his breath for a moment, and then released it. Shit! He was supposed to be meeting Hilde outside . . .  
  
"You're stuck, Duo," he said, once again kissing Duo's neck softly, "you're engaged to the Rose Bride," he sucked on his flesh briefly, causing the braided boy to whimper, "and yet, you've got Quatre . . ." there was defiantly going to be a few marks left on his neck.  
  
"Heero, stop . . ." he said, his breaths growing steadily deeper. Heero pulled back, and then lifted himself to reach for Duo's ear.  
  
"Make me," he whispered, brushing the side of his face against Duo's hair. Duo quickly turned his head away and began to struggle once again against Heero's hands pinning him down.  
  
"Stop," he gasped, trying to find his voice as he felt Heero beginning to grind against him again. He looked up to the frosted window of the little closet they fell into; shadows of different students were running by.  
  
"What will Quatre think of this, Maxwell?" Heero asked, his lips finding Duo's. He forced the other boy's mouth open and invaded the warm cavern with his tongue. Duo held his breath again for another moment, resisting the urge to suddenly bite down on Heero; he didn't want to know what he'd do to him if he did.  
  
Abruptly, the closet door shook, then opened slightly. Heero quickly turned around and kicked it back shut, keeping his foot firmly against it as he picked himself up from Duo. He straightened out his uniform and placed his hand upon the door handle, opening it slightly.  
  
"What?" he growled. Duo, taking advantage of the situation, stood himself up and dusted off his uniform. A tiny shadow of a student stood at the door.  
  
"I'm sorry sir; I just need a kendo stick . . ."  
  
Heero snarled and reached behind Duo, grabbing a kendo stick and shoving it to the timid student. The student bowed in thanks, then turned away and ran as fast as his or her legs could. Angry because of the interruption, Heero jerked open the door and took one step out.  
  
"Dueling grounds, tonight at 18:00 hours, Maxwell," Heero said, whipping himself around and slamming the door shut on Duo. Duo bit his lip, and then looked behind himself. He was in the same small closet where Wufei gave him that kendo stick for his first Duel.  
  
The bell signaling that lunch was over rang loudly. 


	17. The Obsolete Rose Bride

((I do not own Gundam Wing or Shoujo Kakumei Utena, blah blah blah. Once again, I must apologize for the late update~ *bows* School is evil...-.-))  
  
"The Obsolete Rose Bride"  
  
The last hour bell of school rang. Duo slowly stood up from his seat with his book bag in hand. Much to his surprise, Dorothy was actually in class today, looking as lifeless as ever. Duo never knew why she didn't speak much in class... He knew that, in the real world, she was never this quiet, as with Relena. Had Relena not been the Rose Bride, Dorothy would be a perfect candidate for the job...  
  
Duo glanced down at his wristwatch. 15:00 hours. He had three hours until his Duel with Heero. First of all though, he'd have to find Hilde and apologize for missing his lunch hour with her. He had no classes with her, nor did he know where she usually hung out, so he obviously didn't know where to begin searching for her. It'd be useless asking Relena, seeing as how the two never seemed to interact in the first place.  
  
Stepping out of the class and beginning to make his way through the crowd of students, Duo suddenly realized that he hadn't seen Quatre all day, either. He hoped he wasn't avoiding him for any reason...  
  
~*~  
  
"I heard that Duo knows more than you'd wish him too, Zechs."  
  
"Yes, he does. I'm glad that the meeting was cut short yesterday. That was your doing, wasn't it, Noin?"  
  
"... Yes, it was."  
  
"I see."  
  
"Are you angry with me, Zechs?"  
  
"Not at all; quite the opposite, actually. If it had not been for you, I most likely would've said something I would've regretted today.  
  
"Oh? Such as?"  
  
"World's End, for one."  
  
"Ahh... I see that you don't wish to give yourself away, Zechs?"  
  
"Of course not, Noin. If that were to happen, all that I have planned would've gone to waste."  
  
"But Zechs, wouldn't this be a lot easier if you-"  
  
"Ssh! ...I don't wish for us to be heard."  
  
"I see..."  
  
"There is a Duel scheduled this evening at 18:00 hours. Would you do the honors of accompanying my witness to this ritual?"  
  
"Of course, Zechs."  
  
"Thank you, Noin."  
  
"Anything for you, Zechs. Anything..."  
  
~*~  
  
Two hours had passed. Duo stood in front of the main academy building, just about out of breath. He has search just about the entire Ohtori Academy and had seen no signs of either Hilde or Quatre. Though he wasn't in search of her, he hadn't seen any traces of Relena, either. Last he seen her was that morning before he departed to his first class; it was her, after all, who suggested that he have lunch with Hilde.  
  
'Maybe one of them made a stop to the dorm,' he thought to himself, standing up straight. He straightened out his uniform and held onto his book bag tightly; instead of making a stop to his and Relena's dorm, he instantly began his search right out of class. The sun was beginning to set, yet, there seemed to be no students in sight. It seemed that, a little after he began his search, all the students, teachers, and anybody else in the academy immediately dispersed back to their living quarters. It felt a bit strange, but that's how it felt. Perhaps Hilde was back at her own dorm? Which dormitory building did she reside in, Duo wondered. His and Relena's dorm was off to the far east side of the campus, in a lone building only occupied by the two.  
  
As the sun gradually began to disappear over the horizon, Duo started off walking with a small stride, seeing as how he exhausted himself earlier by frantically running about the campus in search of either Hilde or Quatre. Steadily, he began to walk faster, than faster, then faster, until he began to cover his trail in a full sprint. The campus was entirely empty; not a person or creature seemed to inhabit the place. The only sound to be heard was the fast clicking sound of Duo running across the concrete trail, accompanied with roses at either side. As he ran, his long shadow in the golden sunlight reflected the shadow of the Black Rose Duelist, his hair flowing loosely behind him, free of its confining braid, and the sword of Dios replacing his school book bag. Of course, the shadow was oblivious to its owner, as he continued to close the distance between himself and his destination.  
  
It seemed as if the trail from the academy to his dorm had stretched itself purposely, as Duo finally reached it. Quickly, he opened the large front doors to the giant, near-empty dormitory building. Once inside, Duo quickly closed the doors behind himself and ran up the stairs, which had seemed to strangely stretch themselves to make the journey longer. The confused boy began to wonder to himself whether or not the expanding stairs were his imagination.  
  
When, once again, finally reaching his destination, Duo whipped out his dorm key and jerked open the door. The dorm room was empty. He looked around cautiously and looked for any details of anyone within the place. Dropping his book bag beside the door, he instantly ran into the bedroom, hoping to find Relena. As expected, there were no inhabitants inside the said room.  
  
Defeated, Duo closed the bedroom door, slowly. The entire dorm room was empty, Hilde was gone, Quatre was nowhere to be found, and there was no sign of Relena. It seemed as if the entire academy had died over the period of a couple of hours, leaving Duo to figure out its enigmatic ways.  
  
Looking up at the wall to the only source of noise in the entire dormitory building, the clock, Duo's eyes widened slightly. 17:45 hours. He had fifteen minutes to make his Duel with Heero! With that thought, Duo, even though exhausted more than ever, began to literally run out of the dorm, down the stairs, out of the dormitory building, and over towards the dueling grounds as fast as his legs would allow. The task of finding Hilde and Quatre would just have to wait until the Duel was over.  
  
~*~  
  
"Its so quiet this evening..."  
  
"It is, isn't it? Quatre, you've been standing there forever," Wufei said, turned around in his chair to face Quatre. Quatre was leaning against the balcony, both arms folded before him, absentmindedly staring off into the first, shining starts of the night. Wufei, Trowa, and Dorothy sat at their usual white painted table atop the Student Council building's balcony, playing yet another game of cards.  
  
"You guys," Quatre began, his voice small and quiet, "you don't think Duo's avoiding me, do you?"  
  
"Just because you haven't seen him all day doesn't mean he's avoiding you. Unless us, he has to attend all his classes," Wufei said, calmly setting down another card from his deck. Dorothy's eyes narrowed, slightly.  
  
"He was in last hour; don't know where he went afterwards," she said, her voice deep, and slightly irritated by the subject at hand. Next, she set down a card from her deck. Quatre sighed and unfolded one arm, resting his chin upon his palm.  
  
"But I've been looking for him all day; I even asked Hilde if she saw him. She didn't seem too happy, but she didn't see him either," he replied, gloomily. Just then, Trowa set down a card.  
  
"Heero has a Duel this evening; it may be with Duo," he said. At that, Quatre quickly spun around.  
  
"A Duel? Today?" he asked, his eyes widened ever so slightly. Trowa nodded quietly, staring at the deck before him.  
  
"I'll be right back," Quatre said, quickly rushing past the Student Council members and through the balcony entrance. Wufei once again set down a card upon the table, calmly.  
  
"For one who was just dumped, you're acting awfully calm," the Chinese said. Dorothy nodded in agreement, as her eyes scanned her deck carefully. Trowa closed his eyes for a brief second, and then reopened them as the girl set down another card.  
  
"There's nothing I can do about Quatre's decision except accept it," he set down another card, "or not."  
  
"And I seen you've chosen the former," replied Wufei, suddenly setting down his deck onto the table.  
  
"What else would I do? Unless Heero, I'm not rash when it comes down to the acceptance of change or not," he said, quietly, as he and Dorothy set down their deck of cards. Wufei slowly nodded in agreement.  
  
"Heero's not one for change, yet he's the one who desires it most," the onyx eyed boy said, half to himself.  
  
~*~  
  
Night has befallen upon the dueling grounds. Duo had reached it, completely out of breath, yet just in time for his Duel with Heero. Standing on the opposite side of the dueling arena was Heero, sword drawn out and ready to Duel. Relena stood in the middle of the arena, the transparent, pink skirt of her long dress silently flowing with the slightest gust of wind. The moon was rising brightly over the horizon, just opposite of where the sun had set.  
  
"I've seen you decided to come after all, Maxwell," muttered Heero, readying his sword for the Duel. Relena slowly made her way towards the Japanese boy, two roses in hand. Slowly, she lifted her hands up to his chest and inserted a red rose in full bloom upon the chest pocket of his Student Council uniform. His cobalt eyes seemed to glow eerily in the bright moonlight.  
  
"Why wouldn't I?" Duo retorted, as Relena silently turned and made her way towards the Duelist. She extended a hand and placed a black rose in full bloom into Duo's chest pocket. Still without a word, she slowly began to arch backwards, a faint glow gradually becoming bright at her chest emitting itself. Remembering his last Duel, Duo extended out an arm and firmly placed a hand behind Relena's arching back, now fully supporting her as her chest began to glow almost blindingly. Suddenly, an aqua and gold colored sword handle thrust itself from her bosom, as Duo then reached out with his other hand and grabbed the sword handle, the light so bright at this point, he had to squint to see what he was doing. Quickly, he began to pull the Sword of Dios from Relena's body.  
  
"The Power to Revolutionize the World!"  
  
The Sword of Dios now fully separated from Relena's slim body, Duo extended it out towards his opponent. Relena quickly removed herself form Duo's grasp and took her place to the side of the arena, placing her hands into her lap as she watched Heero charge at Duo, sword extended outwards. Her eyes watched coolly as Duo parried Heero charged sword, then twist himself around to strike at Heero's upper body. The attack all too obvious, Heero blocked the strike with his sword handle.  
  
~*~  
  
"The castle... It looks beautiful at night, doesn't it, Zechs?"  
  
"Yes, it does, Noin."  
  
"Had it not been for the Duel, I believe I would find myself gazing up at the castle all night long."  
  
"That wouldn't be wise, Noin."  
  
"Oh? Why's that?"  
  
"Because one who gazes too long at the Castle of Dios will find himself driven into insanity of only wishing to possess that castle all for himself."  
  
"And you know this how, Zechs?"  
  
"Because I've stared at it too long, myself."  
  
~*~  
  
The ground beneath Duo and Heero began to rumble. Concerned, Duo glanced down nervously at the suddenly unsteady ground. Relena didn't seem to mind it, for her hands were still placed calmly in her lap. Heero didn't seem to notice; he was still attacking Duo, aiming for nothing but that rose placed on his chest. Gritting his teeth, Duo continued to retaliate against his opponent.  
  
~*~  
  
"Zechs! Are you saying that you-"  
  
"No, Noin. I don't want the castle..."  
  
"Then what do you want to do with it?"  
  
"I want..."  
  
"The power?"  
  
"Yes..."  
  
"What do you want to power for?"  
  
"I want us to be free, Noin. I want everyone to be free. I don't want us all to be stuck in this world; to be entrapped in Dios' will."  
  
"... I don't think I understand, Zechs..."  
  
"You see Duo?"  
  
"Of course."  
  
"He was forced into this world; he is nothing but a pawn, just like me."  
  
"A pawn?"  
  
"Yes. We all are pawns in this world. I don't wish for this to continue; I want us all to be free."  
  
"So you're saying that..."  
  
"This isn't real."  
  
"'This' as in... This world?"  
  
"Yes. This world. I want us to be free; nobody deserves to be cooped up here like a bird in a cage. Heero wishes for the same thing."  
  
"I... Never knew..."  
  
"Now you do, Noin. Just... Keep silent. If Dios finds out about my plan..."  
  
"I won't tell a soul, Zechs. I promise."  
  
"Thank you, Noin..."  
  
~*~  
  
The ground beneath Duo began to shake violently. Just as Heero struck his sword at him, Duo was thrown from his balance o the ground. Finally, it seemed, Heero and Relena began to notice, for Heero stopped in his tracks to look about himself, as Relena turned her head back and forth to find the source of the ground shaking. The rumbling in the ground began to grow louder, as the shaking began to worsen.  
  
"Duo!!"  
  
Duo quickly jumped up from the ground and turned around. At the entrance of the dueling grounds was Quatre, out of breath, and holding onto one of the stone pillars for support.  
  
"Quatre! Stay back!"  
  
There was a loud cracking sound behind him. Turning around again to face Heero, Duo saw the ground before him crack. He looked to Relena, who had suddenly fallen to her knees. She forced herself to sit up, and then reached an arm out to Duo.  
  
"LORD DUO~!!"  
  
There was another loud cracking. Turned around once more, Duo saw Quatre making his way towards Duo, but was suddenly stopped by the ground cracking behind him. The force of the ground parting caused him to fall onto his knees.  
  
Heero attempted to make his way towards the Rose Bride, but the ground parted once again in between him and her. As the ground continued to shake violently, Duo was soon also forced upon his knees. He looked just in time to see Relena reaching out towards him, but was suddenly thrown out of view by the ground she was resting upon forcefully elevating itself upwards from the rest of the dueling grounds.  
  
~*~  
  
"It's happening, Zechs..."  
  
"Yes, it is, Noin..."  
  
"Aren't you grieved?"  
  
"... Of course not. She's only a pawn, as we all are."  
  
"Your words don't sound too confident."  
  
"That's because they aren't."  
  
"I'm sorry, Zechs..."  
  
~*~  
  
Shakily forcing himself onto his feet, Duo was once again thrown back down by the force of more parted ground elevating itself upwards. It wasn't long before it seemed as if the entire dueling grounds was elevated high into the night sky, it's broken ground its only pillars. Duo was gripping onto the edge of the pillar he was forced upon, afraid that he was to fall at any given moment. Frantically, he searched about for any sign of Quatre or Relena, while elevated.  
  
"QUATRE! RELENA!!"  
  
Looking to his side, he saw Heero casually leaping from pillar to pillar, his sword still in hand. Questioning the Japanese boy's destination, Duo's eyes followed his tracks, until finally, he looked ahead of himself.  
  
Relena was in a black coffin, standing upright, surrounded by red roses, with one black rose in full bloom resting upon her chest, over her heart.  
  
Despite the constant rumbling and shaking of the elevated pillars, the young American forced himself upon his feet, once again. With little progress in catching his balance, he saw Heero suddenly thrown from one of the pillars by another suddenly elevating itself underneath him. The last he saw of him was his feet in the air as he fell to the ground, head first.  
  
'Shit!' Duo thought to himself. With his legs highly unsteady, he forced himself to stand up as he began to make his way across the elevating pillars to Relena, unsure of her current state.  
  
"Relena!" he called out, hoping that the Rose Bride would hear him, despite all the rumbling noise from the elevating pillars. She didn't show any signs if she heard him or not. Forcing himself to leap from one pillar to another just as Heero did, he concentrated entirely upon keeping his balance.  
  
"Relena!!" he called out, again. Relena still showed no signs of hearing him, even as he approached her, finally reaching the pillar that she was on. The pillar that she was upon was unusually steady, and that itself began to make Duo worry.  
  
"Relena! Wake up!" he said, reaching out to touch her. As his fingertips made contact with her pale skin, he found that she was startlingly cold. Placing one hand at the side of her coffin to brace himself, he slowly trailed the tips of his fingers along the side of her face, which was just as cold as the rest of her. She showed no signs of breathing whatsoever.  
  
"RELENA!!" Duo yelled, standing up fully and placing both hands at her arms, and shaking her, suddenly. Some of the surrounding red roses in her coffin fell out, yet she made no signs of life. Looking to the black rose on her chest, Duo hesitantly reached out and touched it. It was set firmly in place. Carefully, he placed his index and middle fingers at either side of the rose and pulled, gently. Blood slowly make its way down from her chest. Quickly, Duo released the rose and stood back. The black rose was embedded deeply in her heart.  
  
Abruptly, the pillar that Duo was standing on shook violently, then cracked in front of him, separating him from Relena's coffin. The ground that he stood on began to crumble, causing him to stumble onto his knees once again. Gradually, bits and pieces of it started to fall to the unstable ground, below.  
  
'Revolutionize this world, Lord Duo...'  
  
The ground beneath the Black Rose Duelist crumbled completely, causing Duo to fall with its declining support.  
  
***  
  
Birds chirping, the sunlight in his face, and fingertips slowly sliding down the side of his face... Duo suddenly sat up from his bed. No, it wasn't his... his was the top bunk; he was in Relena's...  
  
"Good morning, Lord Duo."  
  
Quatre smiled, sitting at the edge of Duo's bed. 


	18. The Yellow Rose

(I do not own Gundam Wing or Shoujo Kakumei Utena, blah blah blah. *sniffles* I'm soooooo sorry for not updating in a long ass time... My muse likes to leave me idealess and abandon me... u.u)  
  
"The Yellow Rose"  
  
~*~  
  
"Finally, the glory of the Black Rose has surpassed its obstacles! The Rose Bride now sleeps quietly in her death; the first to be awakened, even. I'm proud of this new Duelist. He was the first ever to complete his line of duties! With this new Rose Groom, perhaps this Duelist will be able to surpass the final test. Only then, will he be able to revolutionize the world... Break free of the bonds that hold him down..."  
  
"Is that you, Treize...?"  
  
***  
  
"Good morning, Lord Duo," said Quatre with a smile as he sat at the end of Duo's bed. Duo's eyes widened as he noticed the blonde sitting before him, greeting him in the morning as Relena first did.  
  
"...Quatre?" he asked, hesitantly. Quatre continued to smile in greeting as he nodded.  
  
"Yes, Lord Duo?" he asked back. Duo swore his heart skipped a beat. Here was Quatre, calling him by a title that only Relena called him. Speaking of the Rose Bride...  
  
"Where's Relena?" the confused Duelist asked, sitting up suddenly in the bed. A sharp pain hit his head as he did, which made him groan in discomfort. Quatre immediately stood up and placed his hands onto Duo's shoulders, soon before forcing him to lie back down.  
  
"Don't exhaust yourself, Lord Duo! That Duel you had with Heero yesterday took quite a bit out of you-"  
  
The Duel!  
  
"Quatre- what happened after the Duel yesterday?" Duo asked, attempting to sit himself back up again. Responding to his actions, the blonde kept his hands upon his shoulders and held him down.  
  
"I'm sorry you don't remember, though I kind of expected it..." he began, gradually releasing Duo's shoulders. The latter continued to lay on his back obediently as he listened to the former.  
  
"After you defeated Heero in the Duel yesterday, you tripped and fell down the stairway. That was quite a tumble you took. You gave me quite a scare, Lord Duo," he said, smiling. Duo felt pale from the lie.  
  
"What happened to Relena?" he asked. Quatre titled his head, his face showing confusion.  
  
"...Relena?"  
  
"Yes, Relena! Y'know, the Rose Bride!" Duo said, leisurely sitting up. Quatre quickly smiled again.  
  
"Lord Duo, there is no Rose Bride," he said. Duo raised an eyebrow.  
  
"I'm your one and only Rose Groom, Lord Duo," said the smaller boy, reaching his hand out and soon grasping Duo's in his. The color in Duo's face instantly drained.  
  
"W-Wait a sec! Relena~?" he began to ask, allowing Quatre to hold his hand.  
  
"Who's that, Lord Duo? I don't recall ever hearing that name before," said the blonde, gently stroking Duo's hand in his. Duo shook his head and drew his hand backing, causing Quatre to look up at him in confusion as he stood up from bed.  
  
"Relena, the Rose Bride! The one who was the prize in all those Duels! Quatre, you're a Duelist; a part of the Student Council, even! What are you doing here, anyways?" the braided pilot asked. Quatre stood himself up from the chair sat next to Duo's bed. Steadily watching the blonde, Duo remained in place, even as the blonde wrapped his arms around his waist and leaned his head onto his shoulder. It felt nice, yet... somehow, it didn't seem right.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about, Lord Duo. I've always been the Rose Groom. I exist only to serve the winner of the Duels," he began, "There are four Student Council members, though I'm not one of them. As I said before, I never heard of a 'Relena'..."  
  
Duo forced himself to bite his lower lip. He placed his palms onto Quatre's petite shoulders and pulled him back, soon looking at him straight into his aqua colored eyes.  
  
"Who are the four council members?" he asked, steadily. Quatre blinked.  
  
"Heero, Wufei, Trowa..." the smaller boy placed his hands upon Duo's, "and Dorothy. They've always been the Student Council members. Perhaps one of them knows who this Relena is...?"  
  
Duo looked at the wall at the clock. Class was about to begin. Once again, he pulled back from Quatre.  
  
"School's going to begin," he muttered. Quatre pouted and reached out to him.  
  
"You shouldn't go, Lord Duo...! You're not feeling well..."  
  
"I'm... fine Quatre, thank you," the Duelist said, a sigh escaping him. He was so confused; he didn't know where to begin solving this odd mystery. Perhaps he -should- go and ask of Relena to the council members. He doubted he'd get a direct answer, but it was better than nothing. Who else to ask besides the only other present Duelist at the Duel yesterday- Heero?  
  
"Well... I'll go gather your supplies for class, Lord Duo," said Quatre, bowing quickly to Duo before excusing himself from the small dorm room. Duo sighed and lay back onto the bed. As he looked up at the top bunk bed, he lifted his right hand to look at his Rose Seal. His eyes widened significantly when he noticed the rose on the inside was violet instead of black.  
  
***  
  
"Lord Duo, if you start feeling upset again, immediately withdraw yourself form class and head back to the dor-"  
  
"Quatre, I know! I'm okay, really!" Duo proclaimed to him, keeping a steady pace as he walked. Quatre pouted once again, walking beside Duo. He was obviously worried about him, even more so than how much Relena was worried about Duo.  
  
"But Lord Duo-"  
  
"DU-OH~!!!"  
  
With a loud, annoyed grunt, Duo reached behind himself and grabbed onto Hilde's legs as they wrapped around his waist, her arms faithfully wrapping about his shoulders. His book bag dropped to the ground, yet he continued walking. As expected, Quatre picked up the school bag, just as Relena used to. Suddenly, Duo remembered the events of the previous day.  
  
"Hilde!" he glanced behind himself, "About yesterday-"  
  
"Oh, don't worry about it, Duo!" she said with a smile, brushing her cheek against Duo's, forcefully. Duo frowned.  
  
"I know you weren't feeling well," she said, pulling her face back from his. Hesitantly, she glanced behind herself to Quatre.  
  
"You... you weren't with... -him- now, were you...?" she asked, her voice half in a whisper. Duo raised an eyebrow, and then glanced back towards Quatre. The blonde smiled.  
  
"Oh Duo, I know! I heard the rumors!" Hilde exclaimed, suddenly tightening her arms and legs around the American, as the latter grunted slightly in annoyance.  
  
"You and him stay in the same dorm, you're always exhausted when you come to school, he's always following you..." she said, her eyes beginning to water up. Duo sighed and shook his head. It seemed that Hilde had no recollection of Relena, either.  
  
"How can a guy like -HIM- get a guy like -YOU-?! It's unfair, Duo!" the girl began brushing her cheek against his, again, "He's -NOTHING- compared to you! How come you're with him? It's not fair, Duo!"  
  
Hilde began to make fake weeping sound, loudly. The surrounding students who were going to class stopped and stared at the two, as Duo felt his face blush, embarrassed. Abruptly, he placed Hilde down in front of her.  
  
"Stop it, Hilde...!" he said, his voice just above a whisper. Hilde pouted, folding her arms.  
  
"Then tell me, why are you with him?" she asked. Duo took a step back, and then glanced behind himself to Quatre, who continued to hold his smile. Well, this scene was all too familiar. Once again, it would usually be Relena standing in Quatre's place, taking Hilde's harsh words of jealousy.  
  
"Because," Duo began, still keeping an eye on the blonde haired boy. Hilde waited for his answer, impatiently.  
  
"...Because I'm with him right now," he blurted. Hilde's eyes grew widen all of a sudden. Quatre continued to hold his smile, Duo's words not affecting him in the least.  
  
"W-What do you mean you're with him, Duo?" the German girl asked, her eyes growing tear, this time, for real. Duo swallowed, and then folded his arms.  
  
"I meant that Quatre and I are together; we're seeing each other, Hilde," he said with more confidence. Hilde quickly threw her arms around Duo, ignoring the crowded students around them.  
  
"If you're together with him, then that must mean you love him! And if you love him, you've slept with him already! And if you slept with him already, that means you two are engaged! And if you two are engaged, that means... Y-You're gonna BE MARRIED TO HIM!!"  
  
Duo bit his lower lip in embarrassment as he attempted to pry Hilde off of him. He caught a glimpse of Quatre giggling, along with the audience of students whispering to each other. Finally, Hilde gave in and released herself from Duo.  
  
"Fine! Be that way!" she exclaimed, turning around from him and making a quick sprint towards the academy. Obviously, she stopped and turned around, staring straight into Duo's violet eyes.  
  
"...I'll just be the mistress!" she said quickly, before turning around again and running into the aged building. Duo slowly turned back around towards Quatre, who simply flashed him another smile.  
  
"You're going to be late for class, Lord Duo," he stated. Silently, Duo grabbed his book bag from the smaller boy, pausing before him.  
  
"I'm... sorry for that, Quatre," he said. Quatre shook his head.  
  
"No need to apologize, Lord Duo. It wasn't your fault," he said, "you cannot control other people's feelings."  
  
Duo bit his lip again, though this time, it wasn't because of embarrassment.  
  
***  
  
Quatre hadn't followed Duo to his first class. Now that he actually thought about it, Duo wondered where Relena would run off to every time he was in class. Did she have classes of her own? Or did she use the time to do her own thing? Duo wondered if the Student Council members attended class, setting aside Dorothy. He had first class with Wufei, so of course he did. Yet, sometimes he didn't, as that morning. Strange.  
  
***  
  
As Duo calmly walked out of his class before lunch break, he found Quatre patiently awaiting him next to the classroom door. He held a small box wrapped with a cloth, which was of course their lunch. Duo nodded to him, and the two walked outside of the academy, passing by various students as they made way to their lunch destination. Duo had a pretty good idea that it was going to be where he and Relena used to have lunch; outside the baseball field, underneath a tall, well shaded tree. As he soon found out, he was right.  
  
"Quatre... What is this?" Duo asked as he unwrapped the lunch box and warily peered inside. Quatre merely smiled at the confused Duelist.  
  
"It's your lunch, Lord Duo."  
  
"But... What -is- it...?" Duo opened the box a little bit more, only to see that whatever it was that was in the box appeared to be blackened. Instantly, he shut it.  
  
"Ummm... Actually, Quat, I'm not really hungry," the braided boy said to the Rose Groom. Quatre pouted, and then Duo slowly peered back down to the box. Well, maybe if he held his breath and swallowed quickly...  
  
"Duo Maxwell~! I challenge you to a Duel!!"  
  
Peering over his shoulder cautiously, Duo saw the anger face of Dorothy, standing with her hands at her hips and a fierce gaze in her eyes. She looked quite irritated. Quatre turned himself around to face her, yet he didn't say anything.  
  
"A Duel?" Duo asked. Dorothy narrowed her eyes, dangerously.  
  
"You killed her..." she growled. Duo's eyes widened as he quickly stood up. He opened his mouth to say something about Relena, when Dorothy instantly cut him off.  
  
"HOW WOULD YOU LIKE IT IF SOMEONE KILLED THE ONE PERSON YOU LOVED?!" she screamed. Duo froze.  
  
"After school, Maxwell!"  
  
With those last words, Dorothy turned and departed back towards the academy. Quatre stared blankly, as if he didn't know what was going on. Gradually, he turned back to Duo.  
  
"Lord... Duo?"  
  
The American forced a grin at Quatre.  
  
"Guess we gotta Duel tonight, eh Quat?" he said, warily. Quatre nodded, slowly. 


	19. The Yellow Rose Thorns

(I do not own Gundam Wing, blah blah blah. First of all, I must apologize to those who I told that I would update this fic at the end of January. My muse _still _hasn't returned... Damn. Also, I am _NOT_ finished with this fic, but will be! I know what I wanna do in it, where I want it to go, etc., but... Inspiration leaves me dry... U.u In the meantime, I'm working on another fic called 'Sanctuaire' (hintreadithintreviewithint), though its updates also suffer from my lack of a muse... -coughs-)

* * *

**The Yellow Rose Thorns**

* * *

The evening sun loomed over the horizon as students made their way back to their dorms from the long day at school. How innocent they seemed, as if not to have a care in the world. They proceeded on with their lives without worry, having no idea about the events that happened after school hours. They didn't know about the rings, the duels, the conspiracies...

Duo made his way about the campus grounds, his shadow following his every footstep. The faintest breeze waved through his hair, though he never gave it a second thought. A gust of red rose petals blew past him, though they were ignored by the Duelist. His rose groom wasn't walking alongside him- rather, he was waiting at the end of the spiral walkway.

Placing his hand upon the large gate handle, the brunette felt the tingle of a sharp coldness overtaking his ring finger, starting from his ring. He waited as he heard the water rushing behind him, creating a scene of loud waterfalls gathering around him. It was then that the gate gave in, allowing him to pass through.

As expected, Quatre was waiting calmly at the foot of the spiral staircase. His serene expression showed no worry, no remorse, and no emotion. As Duo approached him, he merely stepped back to a smaller gate within the pillar of the great stairway.

"This way, Lord Duo," he said. With a perked brow, Duo followed him. He never noticed his smaller gate before. Usually, he'd be making his way up the stairway, just about growing tired as he reached the top steps. Instead, however, beyond that smaller gate was an... elevator? How come Quatre never showed him this before...?

Both boys walked into the elevator, as the gate to it steadily closed. Inside of the device looked like a cage, as they could see the stairs as it began to work its way upwards. As Duo was looking at the turning stairs, Quatre suddenly disappeared within the blink of an eye. The former turned around to address him, yet he instantly noticed the absence of his partner. Confused, he looked down and saw Quatre's school uniform laying in his stead.

"What the...?" he asked himself. He turned around to face the stairs again, though just as he did that, he was face to face with Quatre, who still wore that serene expression. He was wearing an outfit similar to Relena's; a form-fitting top with pink fabric aligning the sides, a see through cloak that was attached at the shoulders, slacks with the same pink fabric aligning the sides of the legs... Had his outfit been a dress, it would be identical to Relena's.

Reaching out, the blonde hovered the palms of his hands over Duo's chest, and in one, swift movement, slid them down to his arms. In a flash of bright light, the brunette's school uniform had transformed into his Duelist top; the familiar black and violet colors taking place over the usual black. Raising his hands once again, the Rose Groom hovered them crossed over Duo's abdomen, soon before sliding them down to his thighs. The Duelist's slacks suddenly became white. Before long, he was in his complete uniform, as was Quatre. These maneuvers and 'tricks' had never ceased to amaze Duo.

Where Quatre's uniform had lay was now a branch that had steadily been growing as the other two were focused upon anything but it. Leaves were sprouting as tiny rose buds took place, its branches reaching up and around the elevator. By the time the device had stopped, it was covered in branches and pink roses in full bloom. When he noticed this sudden prop, Duo was taken aback momentarily, "Wha...?! How the hell did this...?"

Just then, the elevator gate opened to the dueling arena. Across the smooth surface was Dorothy, dressed in a canary yellow cat suit, black thigh high boots, accompanied by black gloves as well. Her long, flowing hair was pulled back in a braid that served as a hair band, which prevented any blockage of her narrowing eyes, locked onto Duo. She held a saber in her right hand, and a yellow rose held in place over her heart.

However, standing behind the enraged blonde was... Heero? He had his arms folded neatly over his chest, a hint of a smirk playing upon his lips. He was donning his student council uniform, with the red overcoat with black sleeves, and white slacks. Unlike Dorothy, however, he was without a rose.

"Heero?" Duo asked, half to himself as he stepped onto the platform. Ignoring his question, Quatre stepped before him and placed a violet colored rose onto his chest, securing it as he looked up into his eyes.

"Good luck, Lord Duo..." he whispered softly. Before Duo had a chance to reply, the blonde began to lean back. As if by reaction, the Black Rose Duelist reached out and hooked his arm underneath Quatre's slim waist, supporting him as the latter slanted back further, a bright glow at his chest emitting forth. As Duo's hair was withdrawn from its braid, the handle to the Sword of Dios emerged from the blonde, bathed in a glowing lightly. With an outstretched hand, Duo took that handle and carefully extracted the blade from the other.

"The Power to Revolutionize the World!"

Just as Duo stepped back from Quatre with the sword in hand, Dorothy came charging at him, her saber aimed to his chest. Eyes widened, the braided youth bend down upon his left knee, turning his body upwards as the blade of the saber brushed over his rose. Quatre merely stepped back near the elevator, clasping his hands in his lap as he watched the Duel with that familiar serene expression.

"YOU KILLED HER!!" screamed Dorothy, planting her feet firmly against the ground as she turned around to face Duo. The said duelist had fallen to the ground, now quickly scrambling to get back on his feet.

"I didn't kill her! I swear I didn't!" he retorted, clumsily standing back upright. The girl narrowed her eyes dangerously, gripping her saber tightly.

"I loved her, more than anything!" With a quick slash of her saber, Duo thrust the hilt of his sword up against her blade, the weapons clashing with a loud 'clank'.

"I'm tellin' you, I didn't kill her!"

* * *

"I thought I'd find you here, Zechs."

"Ah, you've found me, Noin. What brings you here?"

"Oh, not much. I'm interested in seeing the outcome of this Duel."

"I see. Well, Heero's plan to include Dorothy in the Duels is working quite well."  
  
"Is that so? To replace Quatre, I take it?"

"Of course, Noin. Quatre's the perfect pawn on his chessboard." 

"And of Relena?"

"She didn't do such a bad job herself. Observe the drive in Dorothy to defeat Duo."

"My, my. I'm excited!"

"About?"

"Well, with this sudden change of roles, I'm eagerly anticipating the next Duel!"

"I take it you saw Dios' chart of planned Duels?"

"Yes, I did, Zechs."

"Ah, I see."

"It's always the silent ones."

"Checkmate."

* * *

Dorothy once again charged after Duo, saber first. Unable to do much else, he held his sword out to block the blow. With a slight grunt, he was pushed back from the force of the strike.

"Why won't you fight back?!" she yelled, taking a step back, only to charge at him again with blinding speed. Once more unable to do much else, the other Duelist held his sword out to impede the attack. 'Shit, she's _fast_!'

"You KILLED her! You fucking _KILLED_ HER!" the blonde girl screamed as she thrust her sword against Duo, the latter only capable to parry her attacks.

"I did _NOT_ kill her!" he replied angrily, this time turning on his heel to strike his sword upwards. Dorothy quickly jumped back, holding her saber at an angle before her.

"How dare you deny that, Maxwell!" she said, suddenly lifting both her arms to strike down at Duo. Catching a glimpse at the oncoming hit, he ducked low to the ground, using his momentum to leap over to the side, barely catching his balance in the act. Just then, he cast a glance over his shoulder, seeing Heero with his arms still folded, watching the Duel with amusement.

"Heero! What really happ-"

"Lord Duo!"

As he turned back around, Dorothy had already approached him, thrusting her weapon directly at his rose. In that brief second, the braided one turned to his right, the blade of the saber plunging just shy above his rose.

"Pay attention, you murderer!" the girl cried out, bringing back her saber, right before slashing it down to Duo. The latter hastily swung his sword into the path of hers, the two colliding with another loud 'clank'.

"I didn't MURDER HER!" the former pilot exclaimed. Abruptly, he thrust his sword in an upwards motion, underneath Dorothy's bosom. The blade sliced clean through the yellow rose, causing it to surrender its delicate petals to the wind.

* * *

"Can you hear the bells? They mark another victory."

"Is there a chance that they'll stop?"

"They'll stop singing in due time, Noin. Now come, its time for tea."

"Yes, Zechs."

* * *

Dorothy's breath had caught in her throat as she stared wide eyed at the floating petals. Her grasp upon her saber had loosened, and soon, it fell to the platform quietly. Duo stood himself back up, panting ever so faintly. To be honest, he was surprised that he made it through that Duel. Dorothy was so fast; unpredictable, even.

"How... How many times must I tell you? I didn't kill anyone!" he said. Dorothy, still with her wide eye stare, took a few steps away from Duo and Heero, heading towards the elevator.

"Heero, please tell me what happened! You should know!" he continued, approaching the Japanese youth. Heero tilted his head ever so slightly, his bangs shielding his face as he did so.

"Shouldn't you be concerned with other matters, Duo?" he asked, nodding towards Dorothy. At that, Duo spun around, just in time to see Dorothy without a small dagger from her thigh-high boot. She swung its unsheathed blade towards Quatre, who wasn't able to step away in time. His scream caused Duo's heart to jump, as he quickly ran towards the two blondes. With his sword, he swung it down at the girl's hands, smashing the end of its handle against the hand that held the dagger. A loud yelp escaped her parted lips as she released the smaller weapon, grasping her hand in pain. The dagger, however, was left in Quatre's midsection.

A soft chuckle emitted from Heero as he turned away from the scene, exiting himself before he could be confronted. Duo, on the other hand, quickly began to look for help for the Rose Groom, the sword of Dios disappearing silently. Someone close to Dorothy had been taken away from her, and she intended to have revenge on the Black Rose Duelist, by any means necessary.


End file.
